Ovarian cancer: US trial boosts hope of early detection
Ovarian cancer: US trial boosts hope of early detection
US research suggests possibility of spotting common but hard-to-detect cancer in time to save lives
Hopes of a screening programme for ovarian cancer, which is often lethal because detected at a late stage, have risen with the publication of the results of a trial in the United States.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women, with 7,000 new diagnoses in the UK alone each year. It causes great anxiety and concern because there are few symptoms and they are not very distinctive in the early stages – they include a bloated stomach and abdominal pain. Many women arrive at the GP with a cancer that proves fatal.
The trial, of 4,051 women at the University of Texas MD Anderson cancer centre, in Houston, showed it is possible to identify ovarian tumours correctly through a blood test and internal ultrasound examination with a low rate of errors, which means that few women should be wrongly suspected of having cancer.
In ovarian cancer, this is crucial, because the next step is abdominal surgery, which carries serious risks.
Study here:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.28183/abstract;jsessionid=054735D070F0B10D91FCFD9A1B13EC0B.d01t04
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/aug/26/ovarian-cancer-screening-trial-research