PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

During ovulation the follicle ruptures and releases an

egg, which inadvertently leads to epithelial cell damage. To fix
that damages the epithelial cells have to undergo cell division
to replace and heal the tissue. Each time cell divides there’s a
chance of a mutation and the possibility of tumor formation,
and this means that with more ovulatory cycles there is an
increased risk of tumor formation.
Things that are associated with a decreased risk of ovarian cancer include things that
reduce the number of ovulatory cycles like pregnancy, breast feeding and oral
contraceptive use. On the other side, some things that are associated with an increased
risk include certain medical conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovarian
syndrome.
There are also some genetic risk factors like having the BRCA-1/BRCA-2 mutation,
which are also both autosomal dominant mutations which an addition to ovarian cancer
carry with them an increased risk of breast cancer.
There is also hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer also known as Lynch syndrome
which increases the risk of developing a number of cancers including ovarian cancer.