Studies conducted in women and in the laboratory strongly suggest that the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba may help lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer.Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women and the second most commonly diagnosed gynecologic cancer.Herbal supplements such as Ginkgo have generated interest for their potential preventive effects, but there is a “lack of scientific evidence” to support their use for this purpose, Dr. Bin Ye from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston told a gathering of reporters at a cancer prevention conference held in Baltimore this month.In a population-based study involving more than 600 women with ovarian cancer and 640 healthy control women, Ye and colleagues found that the most commonly used herbals were ginkgo, Echinacea, St. John’s Wort, ginseng, and chondroitin.But only ginkgo appeared to ward off ovarian cancer. According to the data, women who took ginkgo supplements had a 60 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer.