Kotsopoulos J, et al. - Researchers intended to define the optimal age for preventive surgery in women at high risk of developing ovarian cancer so that the preventative effect may be maximized, while delaying symptoms associated with early surgical menopause. They used their international registry to identify women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and with no previous diagnosis of ovarian or fallopian tube cancer or preventive oophorectomy. They estimated age-specific incidence rates of ovarian cancer among these women. They found a cumulative risk of 0.55% to age 35 for BRCA1 mutation carriers and of 0.56% to age 45 for BRCA2 mutation carriers. Considering this finding, they recommended that, in order to maximize prevention and to minimize adverse effects, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy be performed in women with a BRCA1 mutation before age 40, but ideally by age 35, and by age 45 in those with a BRCA2 mutation.