Screening might help to detect ovarian cancer before symptoms develop

Ovarian Cancer Facts in UK:
> Fourth most common cause of cancer death in UK
> Nearly 7,000 diagnoses and nearly 4,500 deaths a year
> Survival rate when diagnosed in early stages: up to 90%
> Survival rate when diagnosed in later stages: 30%
> Early detection is complex as signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are easily mistaken for other, more common and less serious conditions
> The average GP only sees one case of ovarian cancer every five years

Screening might help to detect ovarian cancer before symptoms develop, early results from a UK trial suggest.

Some 83% of cancers were picked up, with almost half the tumours discovered at an early stage.

The disease is 90% curable when treated early, but because symptoms do not emerge until later it is often not detected until it is more advanced.

However, the Lancet Oncology study stresses it is too early to determine whether screening will save lives.

Experts analysed data from the first stage of the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) trial, which will assess over the next five years whether a national screening programme is a good idea.

Among the 100,000 post-menopausal women who took part, screening detected 58 cancers, but missed the disease in another 12 women.

Lead researcher Professor Ian Jacobs, director of the University College London Institute for Women's Health, said: "There is a long way to go before we have firm evidence as to whether or not screening is able to detect cancer early enough to save lives.

"It will also be essential to balance any benefits offered by screening with the downside, as it is recognised that screening can cause anxiety and lead to some unnecessary operations.''

Two methods : Two screening methods are being used in the UKCTOCS trial: a blood test or an ultrasound scan.


OVARIAN CANCER SYMPTOMS
Any of the following symptoms, if they occur on most days may suggest ovarian cancer:
Persistent pelvic and abdominal pain
Increased abdominal size/persistent bloating
Difficulty eating, and feeling full quickly
The blood test measures levels of a protein called CA125 that is often elevated in the blood of women who have ovarian cancer.

The ultrasound scan, which is carried out internally, is used to look for abnormalities in the ovaries.

In the blood test group 34 out of 38 cancers were detected, an accuracy rate of 89%. In total, 97 women in this group underwent surgery to remove their ovaries

In the ultrasound group 24 out of 32 cancers were detected, and accuracy rate of 75%. However, this test threw up a much higher number of "false positive" results, with a total of 845 women undergoing surgery to remove their ovaries.

The researchers believe this was partly due to ultrasound picking up benign ovarian cysts.

The research team found both methods of screening were encouragingly sensitive.

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