After exhaustive research, scientists have succeeded in developing a test that can help oncologists diagnose malignant ovarian cancer earlier and faster than current diagnostic methods.
This type of cancer, especially epithelial ovarian cancer, is one of the deadliest and makes up 90% of ovarian cancers. Those found with it live only five years. This is mainly because it does not show its symptoms and when it is detected, it is usually identified in the advanced stages.
CA125 is a type of protein blood test, which is used to detect ovarian cancer but is not always reliable. A population-based screening program of more than 200,000 women in the UK did not reduce the number of deaths.
The new test was developed by Pen Wang and colleagues at Peking University in China, who collected uterine fluid from 219 women with cancer.
This includes those with early stage ovarian cancer, late stage ovarian cancer, benign ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer.
This fluid from the ovaries and fallopian tubes contains cells and metabolic products or metabolites.
During the analysis, the researchers found that the metabolites of 96 women were distinguishable from those in the early stages.
They identified a group of seven metabolites, including the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine, that could be used for diagnosis.
Next, they tested CA123, a standard used to detect cancer. The researchers concluded that the new test accurately diagnosed early-stage ovarian cancer.
Eric Eisenhower at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said: “The results are promising, but the test needs to be validated in a larger group of people.”
“Effective non-surgical tests for early-stage ovarian cancer have been elusive for more than five decades,” he said.
“Most tests currently available for early detection have difficulty identifying ovarian cancer at an early stage. I would like to see this profile validated in a larger prospective data set, but Initial reports show a lot of promise.
Despite the promising results, experts are calling for the net to be widened to include other factors that can affect cancer prognosis at different stages.
The study did not include people without cancer as a comparison, and there may be other conditions that change the profile of metabolites in a similar way, said Sujata Rawat at Adesh Hospital in Bathinda, India.