London - A new test could detect ovarian cancer at an early stage for the first time.
Scientists have developed a method for finding the disease – often diagnosed too late – before symptoms develop.
More than 7 000 women in the UK contract the disease every year, of whom three-quarters have the most aggressive form.
In 85 percent of cases, the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body before it is big enough to detect – making it harder to fight.
It is hoped the test, which takes fluid from the womb, can give early warning to women carrying genes that increase their risk of the disease.
Early detection may also reduce the need for women to have ovaries removed as a preventive measure because they have a higher genetic risk of the disease, which has a survival rate of less than three in ten.
The method, which could be carried out in a clinic without anaesthetic, tests cells taken from fluid in the womb and looks for mutations of 16 genes linked to ovarian cancer. The most important of these is known as TP53 – the “guardian gene” – which normally kills cells with damaged, mutated genes.
When mutations are found in TP53, it can mean tumours are free to grow as the gene cannot kill off unhealthy cells as it normally would. In the study, 65 women with symptoms were tested. The method correctly identified cancer in 80 percent of the 24 women who were later found to have the disease.
Dr Paul Speiser, of Medical University Vienna, said one of the key findings was that the test also picked out cancer in a woman with no symptoms. “This was an early diagnosis that shows it is possible to collect cells within the womb and detect cancer even without symptoms,” he said.
Possible symptoms that may warn of the disease include pain in the pelvis, increased size of the abdomen and persistent bloating and difficulty eating.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, offers a “proof of concept”, Dr Speiser said. Further tests will be required before it can be used in clinics and hospitals.
Daily Mail