FRIDAY, Feb. 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Opportunistic bilateral salpingectomy (OBS) is associated with a risk reduction in serous ovarian carcinoma, according to a research letter published online Feb. 2 in JAMA Network Open.
Ramlogan Sowamber, M.P.H., from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study involving all people who underwent a hysterectomy or tubal permanent contraception in British Columbia from 2008 to 2020. Individuals in the OBS group were compared to those in the surgery group (hysterectomy alone or tubal ligation) to estimate the risk reduction for serous carcinomas (40,527 and 45,296 patients, respectively). The analysis was repeated with breast cancer to examine the likelihood of selection bias.
The researchers found that individuals in the comparison group were older at the time of surgery and had less use of oral contraceptive pills compared with those who underwent OBS. The crude hazard ratio for serous ovarian carcinoma was 0.22 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.05 to 0.95), while it was 0.99 for breast cancer (95 percent confidence interval, 0.84 to 1.17). Twenty-six ovarian carcinomas were identified in individuals without fallopian tubes, 23.1 percent of which were high-grade serous carcinoma, compared with 68.1 percent seen in a historical cohort with fallopian tubes.
"This study clearly demonstrates that removing the fallopian tubes as an add-on during routine surgery can help prevent the most lethal type of ovarian cancer," coauthor Gillian Hanley, Ph.D., also from the University of British Columbia, said in a statement. "It shows how this relatively simple change in surgical practice can have a profound and life-saving impact."
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.