ABOUT one-fifth of ovarian cancer deaths could be prevented if women were given yearly blood tests that screened for the condition, a new study has found.
The findings, published in The Lancet, a medical journal in the United Kingdom, are based on a 14-year-study of 200,000 post-menopausal women in Britain between the ages of 50 to 75.
Each woman was randomly assigned to three different groups: 50,000 were given transvaginal ultrasound tests; another 50,000 were screened by a new test to measure changing levels of a blood protein, CA125, which has been linked to ovarian cancer; and a control group of 100,000 was not screened.
The women did not have what researchers considered “a strong family history” of ovarian cancer.
A total of 1,282 were diagnosed with the cancer, and by the end of the study, 649 had died. More women from the control group died than those who were screened every year.
The trial, led by University College London, was the world’s largest screening test for ovarian cancer and was designed to compare the outcomes of regular blood tests versus alternate screening methods or no screening at all, The Guardian reported.
Dr. Usha Menon, a co-author of the article in The Lance and head of the gynecological cancer center at University College London said follow-up is needed to confirm that the findings are significant throughout.
“This is almost there, but not yet,” she said.
Another finding from the study was that two out of every three women that underwent surgery to check for the cancer, which was based on their blood test results, did not have any condition. Such an outcome results in unnecessary worry for women. Additionally, 3 percent of women who had surgery wound up with major complications.
Menon said the apparent benefits of screening may have been due to chance, according to The New York Times, adding that monitoring the participants for a few more years will clear up the issue.
Dr. Clare Mckenzie, consultant gynecological oncologist and vice president for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK, agreed, according to The Telegraph.
“Women who are worried about ovarian cancer should talk to their doctor who can explain the risk of cancer and available tests,” she said.
With a poor prognosis for ovarian cancer, the results of the trial, the biggest of its kind, have been long-awaited. Scientists have been seeking a method for decades that would detect the disease in time to save lives, according to The New York Times. In the early stages of the cancer, there are no symptoms and it can progress quickly. As a result, most cases of the condition are advanced by the time women are diagnosed with it: Less than half of ovarian cancer patients remain alive within five years of their diagnosis.
This year in the United States, more than 21,000 new cases and more than 114,000 deaths from ovarian cancer are expected, according to the American Cancer Society.
Experts not associated with the recent study agreed the study was not ready for routine use and expressed varying optimism about it, the Times reported.
“It is good news because ovarian cancer is a serious problem,” said Robert Smith, vice president for cancer screening at the American Cancer Society, according to The New York Times. “The incidence is not high, but it has a high mortality rate and we’ve not been able to offer women much with respect to early detection. This has the potential to change that.”
Dr. Fiona Reddington, head of population research at Cancer Research UK, said the trial has significantly contributed in understanding ovarian cancer.
“Detecting it early is vital to make sure that patients have the best treatment options and that more women can survive the disease,” she said, adding that the organization would not suggest such screenings on a national level.
“While this is an important step in ovarian cancer research, we would not recommend a national screening program at this point.”
Dr. Saundra Buys, a professor of medicine and medical director of the high-risk breast cancer clinic at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, told the Times that the amount of screening is “a lot” for the amount of resulting benefit. Still, she said the study was “an amazing accomplishment,” but noted that the issue with screening for ovarian cancer is the disease is difficult to screen due to its lack of symptoms and aggressive growth, the Times reported.
