Ovarian cancer screening still elusive
2 October 2009
Women’s health experts have agreed there is no evidence to support screening for ovarian cancer in women who don’t have symptoms (Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol, online).
A new National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre position statement says there is no evidence that any test, ‘including pelvic examination, CA125 or other biomarkers, ultrasound (including transvaginal ultrasound), or [a] combination of tests’, results in reduced mortality from ovarian cancer, and therefore cannot be recommended for routine population screening.
The experts agreed that large clinical trial validation was required before current or new biomarkers (such as CA125, a protein that can be produced by ovarian cancer cells and detected in the blood) could be recommended for screening.
Two large clinical trials, one US and one British, are currently underway looking at screening for ovarian cancer using CA125 and transvaginal ultrasound (a type of pelvic ultrasound used to look at the reproductive organs). When the results from these trials were available the approach to screening would be clarified.
Last Reviewed: 02 October 2009
- 1. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol, online
2. National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre. Population screening and early detection og ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women - NBOCC position statement [published 2009, Sep 30], Available at: http://www.nbocc.org.au/our-organisation/position-statements/population-screening-and-early-detection
