CHSPR Seminar | Evolving Strategies for Ovarian Cancer Prevention: Exploring the Acceptability and Feasibility of Risk-Reducing Salpingectomy

Speaker: Alex Lukey, PhD Candidate, School of Population and Public Health

Growing confidence in both the origins of ovarian cancer and the safety and effectiveness of salpingectomy as a preventive strategy has led to increased adoption of opportunistic salpingectomy in clinical practice. Although current guidelines only recommend salpingectomy opportunistically, the greatest reduction in mortality and morbidity from ovarian cancer may come from offering the procedure to individuals at increased lifetime risk of ovarian cancer, but who should not be offered oophorectomy. This dissertation explored patient and clinician perspectives on using salpingectomy as a stand-alone risk-reducing surgery for this population. We will also examine two key feasibility questions: the expected complication rate associated with RRS and the potential use of a clinical prediction model to identify candidates for the procedure.

Alex Lukey is a registered nurse and PhD candidate in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC, supervised by Drs. Michael Law and Gillian Hanley. Her doctoral research is supported by a Canada Graduate Scholarships–Doctoral Award and a Killam Doctoral Scholarship. Outside of her PhD research, Alex leads the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative Trainee Group and serves on the Advisory Committee of the Women’s Health Research Cluster. She also teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at UBC Okanagan.