New approach to old test may detect ovarian cancer

	Tweet

Researchers have found a new way to use an existing blood test that may provide a way to screen women for ovarian cancer, perhaps in time to cure more women of the deadly disease.

They said combining a test that measures levels of a certain protein along with a way of measuring risk of the disease helped spot early stage cancers in otherwise healthy women.

If detected early, ovarian cancer can be cured, but more than 70 percent of women have advanced disease by the time they are diagnosed, said Dr. Karen Lu, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who led the study.

The findings were released on Thursday ahead of the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June.

“This may be pointing the way toward developing a ‘mammogram’ if you will for ovary cancer,” ASCO president Dr. Douglas Blayney, of the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a telephone interview.

Ovarian cancer kills 15,000 U.S. women each year.

“Clearly there is a need for coming up with an effective strategy to detect ovarian cancer early,” Lu said in a telephone interview.

She and colleagues studied a new way to use the cancer antigen or CA-125 test, which measures levels of a protein that is elevated in ovarian cancer cells.

The CA-125 test can detect rising levels of this protein, and is typically used to see if ovarian cancer has come back. But it is less sensitive in early stage cancers because levels of CA-125 can also rise from non-cancerous conditions, especially in pre-menopausal women.

Lu’s team used the CA-125 test in combination with the Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm, a mathematical formula that calculates a woman’s risk of having ovarian cancer based on age, CA-125 level and CA-125 levels over time.

The team studied women over age 50 who had no significant family history of breast or ovarian cancer, and put them into three groups.

Those at low risk got annual blood tests. Women deemed at intermediate risk were called back for a repeat test in three months. If the risk appeared high, they were referred for a transvaginal ultrasound, which uses soundwaves to create a picture of the pelvis.

The team found three invasive cancers in 3,238 women who participated in the study—all early stage and potentially curable.

“What’s looking promising is the trend over time,” Lu said. “You could have a very low value and all of a sudden it goes very high. That is a trigger,” she said.

Lu said the findings are not enough to change practice. But researchers in Britain are evaluating the blood test and risk algorithm combination in a study of more than 200,000 women. Results of that study are due in 2015.

“We’ll have the definitive answer in a short amount of time,” she said.

---
CHICAGO, May 20 (Reuters)

RELATED STORIES:
Researchers find possible genetic keys to surviving epithelial ovarian cancer   Ovarian transplantation: New technique gives greatly improved results in this delicate operation   Correlation Between ChemoFx Assay and Improved Survival in Patients with Ovarian Cancer   Study Explains High Platelets in Ovarian Cancer Patients; Survival Reduced   Experimental Drug Boosts Survival Time For Recurrent Ovarian Cancer   Ovarian Cancer Treatment Found to Significantly Improve Survival   Ovarian cancer risk not affected by alcohol and smoking, but reduced by caffeine   St. John’s wort and polymeric nanoparticles to treat ovarian tumors using light   Birth after cancer treatment with removal and storage of ovary   Project Achilles Pinpoints Vulnerabilities in Ovarian Cancer   Electronic nose detects cancer   Specialists provide best outcome for ovarian cancer   Why are African Americans less Likely to Survive Certain Cancers?   Trial of Topotecan following Carboplatin and Paclitaxel in treatment of ovarian cancer   New Treatment Implications for Ovarian Cancer Unveiled   Ginkgo may ward off ovarian cancer   DNA Repair Genes May Predict Ovarian Cancer Survival   ‘Clumping’ Protein Linked to Return of Ovarian Cancer   Ovary removal could be risky for young women   New Antibody Offers Hope for Treating Ovarian, Breast Cancer   GPs take more than a month to record ovarian cancer diagnosis in one in 10 cases   Younger women survive ovarian cancer better

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]