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 New blood test can detect ovarian cancer in its early stages

Relatively few cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in their early stages, so many people lose the opportunity for effective treatment. A newly developed blood test, however, could change this situation. 

The American Cancer Society (ACS) state that "only about 20 percent of #ovarian_cancers are found at an early stage."

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However, when a doctor can diagnose the cancer early on, about 94 percent of people have a good prognosis following treatment.

Beyond a full pelvic exam, a doctor has two diagnostic tests at their disposal: the transvaginal ultrasound and the cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) blood test.

Both tests have significant limitations. The ultrasound test allows a doctor to look for tumors in the uterus, fallopian tubes, and #ovaries, but it cannot indicate whether a growth is cancerous.

The CA-125 test assesses the levels of an #ovarian_cancer marker in the blood. The problem is that high levels of this antigen are also present in people with unrelated conditions.

The authors of the new study, which appears in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, note that "CA-125 serum levels may also be elevated in nonmalignant conditions, such as #endometriosis, #pregnancy, #ovarian_cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, #hepatitis, #cirrhosis, and in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle."

For this reason, the researchers sought to develop a new, more accurate blood test to detect #ovarian_cancer. 

The team came from Griffith University in Gold Coast or the University of Adelaide, both in Australia.

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