Symptoms, Blood Test Accurately Detect Ovarian Cancer

The combination of blood test and a number of symptoms increase ovarian cancer detection accuracy by 20%.

Researchers suggest that a blood test measuring CA 125 protein level in blood is an important tool for identifying ovarian cancer. However, the test alone is not good enough, because there can be women with ligh levels of CA 125, but with no ovarian cancer.

The other test tool is the guideline of symptoms published by Dr. Barbara Goff from University of Washington School of Medicine in 2006. The publication include the symptoms coming from ovarian cancer: 'pelvic or abdominal pain, bloating, increased abdominal size, difficulty eating, or feeling full quickly'. If the symptoms occur more than 12 times a month, an additional test is recommended to detect ovarian cancer.

This new research suggests, that the combination of the mentioned tools and ovarian cancer symptoms guideline is a powerful and accurate way for detecting ovarian cancer in its early stages.

A team of researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle examined 254 healthy women, who were found to be at the highest risk of ovarian cancer because of family history, and 75 women with late cancer stage, who were already preparing for a surgery. All of participants were questioned about symptoms and passed blood tests to measure CA 125 protein level.

Combining two methods together, researchers were able to identify ovarian cancer in 80.6% of early stage cases and 95.1% of late stage cases. On average, the combination identified about 90% of all cases. However, there were also misdiagnosis cases occurring: 14% of women who were fund to have high levels of CA 125 and the symptoms did not have the disease, they had to undergo ultrasound tests to clarify the situation.

Blood tests alone is able to identify 60% of disease cases, but when combined with symptom test, it can identify 80% of early stage ovarian cancer cases. This means, that the combined testing is 20% more successful than blood test alone, and that early stage cancer sufferers can be identified earlier and treated on time, increasing survival rates and quality of life.

According to American Cancer Society statistics, there are about 21000 women a year who are ovarian cancer diagnosed and about 15000 women die from it each year. It is not yet proved that this cancer can be easily cured if caught in early stages, but probably it is true, because every single disease is easier to cure in early stages, rather than in late stages. And currently there are only 20% of all ovarian cancer cases being diagnosed in early stages.

There are no properly accurate tests for detecting ovarian cancer. Most of current tests are even missing the disease, or detecting a disease which actually doesn't exist, making women to worry about nothing. The best option is ultrasound testing, but it works only when the sonographer is a very experienced doctor, otherwise it's impossible to detect, because currently there are no clear guidelines on ultrasound testing.

The rates of ovarian cancer and the absence of proper tests to detect the disease make this research very valuable. However, researchers still have a lot to do to improve testing and diagnosing techniques for detecting ovarian cancer.