Symptom Screen Plus CA125 Detects Early Ovarian Ca

Women’s reports of persistent, recent-onset symptoms linked to ovarian cancer-abdominal or pelvic pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and abdominal bloating-combined with CA125 testing may improve the early detection of ovarian cancer by 20%, according to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center investigators (Cancer, published online June 23, 2008).

The researchers gave a four-question symptom-screening questionnaire to 75 women about to undergo surgery for a pelvic mass who were later diagnosed with ovarian cancer (cases) and 254 healthy women at high risk for ovarian cancer (controls). The questionnaire and CA125 test used alone each detected about 50% of early-stage cases. Used together, the tests found 80.6% of early-stage cases, said M. Robyn Andersen, PhD, of the Public Health Sciences Division.