Simple blood test could cut ovarian cancer deaths by a fifth

Sunday 20 Dec 2015 - 17:25 Makkah mean time-9-3-1437

Image from Mail Online.

London, (IINA) - Hundreds of thousands of lives across the world could be saved if women over the age of 50 were given a routine test to detect ovarian cancer early, a major study has concluded.
The 14-year long study, led by experts at University College London (UCL), suggests that a yearly blood test for levels of a particular protein could prevent approximately 15 deaths for every 10,000 women screened, Mail Online health news reported.
Experts have been calling for years for routine testing to catch ovarian cancer early but until now, there has been no evidence to suggest it would actually save lives. Today, in the world’s biggest ovarian cancer screening trial, scientists report that an annual £20 blood test for women over the age of 50 would cut deaths by 20 percent.
Early diagnosis is key to survival but three-quarters of women are diagnosed once the cancer has already spread, making it much harder to treat. 
The disease currently kills 4,300 women in Britain each year, a figure that scientists now know would drop with a national screening programme.
In the UK, experts have called for the test to be introduced on the National Health Service (NHS). In the US, around 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.
It is the eighth most common form of the disease in women across America, and the fifth leading cause of death after lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states: 'Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system, but it accounts for only about 3 percent of all cancers in women. When ovarian cancer is found in its early stages, treatment is most effective.'
The latest statistics, for 2012, reveal 20,785 women were diagnosed in the US, while 14,404 women died from the disease.
Health experts hailed the work as a ‘landmark step’ in tackling ovarian cancer but warned more research was needed before the screening process should be widely introduced.
Dr Simon Newman, director of research at Target Ovarian Cancer (TOC), said: ‘The results of this landmark study, a milestone in ovarian cancer research, put us in a stronger position in our collective quest for improving earlier diagnosis so more women can survive the disease.’
Katherine Taylor, chief executive Ovarian Cancer Action, said: ‘Ovarian cancer has notoriously poor survival rates.
‘We need a screening programme to stop women dying from this insidious disease. ‘The findings of this trial offer a glimmer of hope for the fight against ovarian cancer and bring us a step closer to a national screening programme. ‘We must be realistic though, as this could take years to become a reality.’
The researchers, whose study is published in the Lancet medical journal, tested more than 200,000 post-menopausal women aged 50 to 74 for 14 years at 13 centres across the UK. The programme called the UK collaborative trial of Ovarian cancer screening -compared those who received no screening, those who were given a yearly ultrasound and those who received an annual blood test for levels of the protein CA125, with an ultrasound as a second-line test. They found that the blood test resulted in reduced mortality overall.
However, they also discovered a high rate of ‘false positives’ - when women were told they had cancer when they actually did not.
For every three women with a positive screening who subsequently received surgery, two were found not to actually have the cancer.
The report said: ‘After excluding women who, when they joined the trial, had undiagnosed ovarian cancer, there was a significant reduction in deaths with an average mortality reduction of 20 per cent and in years seven to 14 of 28 percent.’
Lead author Professor Ian Jacobs, of the Institute of Women’s Health at UCL, added: ‘Further follow-up will provide greater confidence about the precise reduction in mortality which is achievable. ‘It is possible that the mortality reduction after follow-up for an additional two to three years will be greater or less than these initial estimates.’
The report authors suggested that careful screening of this type could detect ovarian cancer early enough to help reduce death rates, but warned that more work needs to be done to determine the ultimate fall deaths and whether widespread screening can be cost-effective. They said: ‘This opens up a new era in ovarian cancer research and care.
‘Whether or not population screening is justified will depend upon a range of factors including further follow-up to determine the full extent of the mortality reduction and health economic analyses. ‘Meanwhile efforts can be made to refine ovarian cancer screening, develop tests with greater sensitivity and more lead time and improve ways to risk stratify the population.’
From his side, Dr Adam Shaw, clinical lead for cancer genetics at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, said the results were ‘encouraging’.
Prof Christina Fotopoulou, of the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre, said: ‘We’ve always been one step behind the disease but a screening method would allow us to catch it at a stage that makes treatment more effective.
‘While we’re not there yet, and will need to wait for further study and definitive results, UKCTOCS shows that research in the field is gaining pace.
Dr Clare McKenzie, vice president for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: ‘This study is important in that the early detection of ovarian cancer, and hence early treatment, has the potential to save lives.
SN/IINA

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