Symptoms of ovarian cancer vague, tests unreliable
Frustration is old hat for those passionate about finding a better way to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages.
There's no test or screening routinely recommended for women, and a study released this month further discouraged widespread use of the tests that are available.
A study of 80,000 women found that those screened with a blood test called CA-125 and transvaginal ultrasound did not have a reduced risk of dying from ovarian cancer. Furthermore, those who were screened had a risk of being harmed by unnecessary medical procedures that followed false-positive results.
Of 3,285 women with false-positive results - those who did not have cancer even though the tests showed abnormalities - 1,080 underwent surgery, including removal of one or both ovaries, and 163 experienced major complications.
The study, published in The and led by researchers at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, reinforced the conventional thinking on the screening of healthy women without a known risk of ovarian cancer.
False-positive results from ovarian-cancer screenings are of profound concern because the next step is major surgery, said Dr. David Cohn, a gynecologic oncologist at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital.
Combined, the blood test and ultrasound cost a few hundred dollars or more. But harm to women - not cost - is the primary concern, Cohn said. "You're actually going to hurt more people with the follow-up test than you're going to help," he said.
The symptoms are vague and can mimic other problems. In most cases, women discover they have the disease in an advanced stage, when the five-year survival rate is 30 percent. Surgery, chemotherapy and sometimes radiation are far more successful in eliminating the cancer when it's found earlier.
For now, experts say that ultrasounds and blood tests should be reserved for women with symptoms and for those with a family history or a known genetic predisposition to ovarian cancer.
"It's a totally different situation for women that are felt to be at a substantially higher risk," said Dr. Steven Waggoner, chief of gynecologic oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland.
"If it is going to be helpful, that's the group that you're going to help. At the present time, the party line is that you should not go looking for ovary cancer in healthy women."
Researchers continue to look for a better way, Waggoner and Cohn said. One study is looking at patterns in women who undergo multiple CA-125 blood tests each year.
Primary Peritoneal Cancer - News
Bevacizumab is a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody that demonstrated a progression-free survival benefit in 2 frontline phase 3 trials in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, and fallopian tube cancer.
Pap tests screen for cervical cancer. She said women who've had breast cancer need to understand that they are at elevated risk of ovarian cancer, and women who have had hysterectomies need to know that they might develop primary peritoneal cancer,
This study is a Phase I/II randomized clinical trial for subjects with recurring ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer to determine the feasibility and safety as well as immunogenicity of a vaccine comprised of autologous oxidized tumor
The women in the study were diagnosed with histological and CA-125-confirmed stage III-IV epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. They had to have a complete clinical response defined as normal physical examination,
Her illness, a form of ovarian cancer called primary peritoneal cancer, was diagnosed in December 2009. Josephine chose to keep it a secret right up until the end. Three days before her death, on the Monday afternoon, she arrived at the Donmar
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Cancer Prognosis is one of those things you really don’t want to hear about less alone deal with. But more often than not, you know somebody or you have heard of somebody having this devastating disease. The really scary part is that you hear about it one time and the next time you know anything else is when you see an announcement in the obituary section of the newspaper.
RT : Primary Peritoneal Cancer - Why Every Woman Needs to Know About This Disease Or Else 
Primary Peritoneal Cancer - Why Every Woman Needs to Know About This Disease Or Else 
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