Scientists hoped they had found promising tools in the battle against ovarian cancer.
By using a combination of both blood and ultrasound tests, they studied whether one of the most deadly forms of cancer in women could be detected at its earliest, most treatable stages.
But in a national study that involved nearly 80,000 women between 55 and 74 years old, they discovered that even with the two screenings, the risks of dying from the disease weren’t significantly reduced.
“The goal isn’t just to find the cancer, but to find it early enough that it can be cured,” said Nicole Urban, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “That’s a tall order.”
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women. It causes more deaths than any other type of cancer of the female reproductive system, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Most deaths from ovarian cancer occur in women 55 and older. One reason the cancer is so deadly is that it’s difficult to diagnose.
It’s often discovered only by chance, either during annual exams or when women seek medical care for another problem, said Dr. Mark Coughenhour, an oncologist at Providence Regional Cancer Partnership in Everett.
Unlike breast cancer, ovarian cancer usually isn’t discovered until it is advanced. Only 30 percent of these women survive for five years.
“The problem is trying to find something that will give us an edge,” Coughenhour said.
The national study using blood and ultrasound tests was conducted from 1993 to 2001 and led by researchers at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center.
Participants were followed for up to 13 years, ending in February 2010. Study results were published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
One of the problems was that the ultrasound tests found many “false positives,” or non-cancerous growths. So women underwent unnecessary biopsies and surgeries.
Surgery to remove an enlarged, potentially cancerous ovary can increase the chances for infections and other injuries, Coughenhour said. And a number of the women in the study had complications from follow-up procedures, he said.
That’s why international research is under way to try to find better detection methods.
A study in England is using blood tests for a protein that is found in tumor cells. Only women with high levels of this biomarker are given ultrasound tests, and in some cases surgery. But that study won’t be completed until 2014, Urban said.
Urban also is leading research on ovarian screening tests for women at high risk of the disease, involving 660 women in the Puget Sound region.
The study — a variation on blood screening — will continue for at least three more years.
Women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer or who have a family member diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer are at higher risk for ovarian cancer.
“I don’t think anybody is ready to give up on ovarian cancer screening,” Urban said. “There just needs to be a better way to do it.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
Fundraising run and walk
The SummeRun & Walk for Ovarian Cancer is scheduled at 8:15 a.m. July 24. The 5-kilometer event starts and finishes at the corner of Madison Street and Minor Avenue in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood.
All proceeds benefit the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research in Seattle. The last day to register online is July 20. For more information, go to www.summerun.org.
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