Retrospective cohort study of long-term health outcomes of bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy in BRCA1/2 pathogenic variant carriers with breast cancer history

To mitigate ovarian cancer risk, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) is commonly recommended for carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants (PVs). A retrospective study in the United Kingdom evaluated long-term health outcomes of BSO in PV carriers with a personal history of breast cancer. Among 3423 patients, BSO uptake was approximately 54%, and the median duration of follow-up was 5.5 years. BSO was associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality, breast cancer-specific mortality, and second non-breast cancer. BSO was not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, non-breast cancer specific mortality, contralateral breast cancer, or depression. The authors conclude that these results support offering BSO to BRCA1 and BRCA2 PV carriers with a personal history of breast cancer.