Surgeons urge Collaborative to study opportunistic salpingectomy for ovarian cancer prevention

Chuck Drescher, a gynecologic oncologist leading an initiative at the Fallopian Research Center at Swedish, urged the Collaborative to advance opportunistic salpingectomy as a topic for development. Drescher described population‑level cohort evidence and said the procedure could be integrated into abdominal surgeries to reduce ovarian cancer incidence. "There was a very large population based study...and they saw a substantial reduction in the risk of high grade serous ovarian cancer, about the hazard ratio was about 0.22," Drescher said, summarizing the cohort evidence discussed during public comment.

Speakers asked about evidence strength and potential cost implications. Drescher said institutional and provincial studies show consistent benefit and estimated the incremental procedural cost per case would be modest (he described a back‑of‑the‑envelope estimate of a few hundred dollars). The Collaborative added the nomination to the roster for topic development and recommended staff explore stakeholder convening, potential CPT coding and reimbursement pathways, workforce training and consent/implementation guidance.

The Collaborative did not change coverage policy—members requested further evidence synthesis and implementation planning within the topic work stream.