# Risk-reducing and opportunistic salpingectomy

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/risk-reducing-salpingectomy/  
OnCo record `risk-reducing-salpingectomy` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Removing the fallopian tubes, where most ovarian cancer starts, during other pelvic surgery or in women at inherited risk.

## Summary

Because high-grade serous cancer originates in the tubal fimbria, removing the tubes at hysterectomy or instead of tubal ligation (opportunistic salpingectomy) is recommended by ACOG and SGO for average-risk women. In BRCA carriers, salpingo-oophorectomy by age 35-45 remains standard; salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy (TUBA-WISP II, SOROCk) is under study to postpone surgical menopause. Population data from British Columbia show falling incidence after policy adoption.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-07
- Principle: Removing the fallopian tubes eliminates the tissue of origin of high-grade serous carcinoma while sparing ovarian hormone production.
- Strengths: Prevents the ovarian cancer type with the lowest survival without hormonal consequences; Adds little time or risk to existing surgery
- Limitations: Does not prevent non-tubal ovarian cancers; Benefit for BRCA carriers versus oophorectomy still unproven

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salpingectomy
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salpingectomy

## Connected records

- cancers: [High-grade serous ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/high-grade-serous-ovarian-cancer/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/)
- fronts: [Prevention & Risk](https://onco.cc/fronts/prevention/), [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- technologies: [Chemoprevention & risk-reducing surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/chemoprevention/)
- targets: [BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD)](https://onco.cc/targets/brca/)
- terms: [Hereditary cancer syndromes](https://onco.cc/terms/hereditary-cancer-syndromes/), [High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC)](https://onco.cc/terms/hgsoc/)
- people: [Angelina Jolie](https://onco.cc/people/angelina-jolie/)
- bottlenecks: [Inherited risk is mostly unidentified](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-hereditary-risk/)
- roadmaps: [Cancer prevention roadmap: tobacco control and vaccines → biomarker-guided chemoprevention → interception in carriers](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/prevention-roadmap/), [Paths to cures: interception, eradication, control](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/cure-paths/)
- collections: [Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA)](https://onco.cc/collections/ovarian-cancer-research-alliance/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/risk-reducing-salpingectomy.json