New screening technique enhances ovarian cancer detection

A new screening technique can significantly enhance the accuracy of women's ovarian cancer detection, compared to conventional method, according to a report recently published by the University College London (UCL).

In a 14-year trial, researchers evaluated 46,237 women who continued to attend annual multimodal screening following the first screen. Researchers said they use a statistical calculation to interpret changing levels in women's blood of a protein called CA125, which is linked to ovarian cancer.

They found that the new screening technique detected cancer in 86 percent of women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, whereas the conventional test used in previous trials or in clinical practice would have identified fewer than half of these women (41 percent or 48 percent respectively), Xinhua reports. 

Professor Usha Menon at UCL who participated in the study said these results are very encouraging, which show that use of an early detection strategy based on an individual's CA125 profile significantly improved cancer detection.

By tracking how the levels of the CA125 protein change over time, researchers might have an early signal to detect tumors. Ovarian cancer is particularly hard to spot at an early stage so it's vital that there are ways to diagnose the cancer sooner.

The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.