Screening blood test can prevent deaths from ovarian cancer

Reduction of deaths from ovarian cancer possible?
Ovarian cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the five-year survival rate of those affected is currently only about 41 percent. About one in every 72 women is affected by ovarian cancer during their lifetime. One of the reasons for the poor treatment prospects is that in ovarian cancer, the symptoms often make themselves felt in the advanced stage and the tumors are therefore often recognized late, explains the RKI. Whether the proportion of deaths can be reduced by the existing screening methods remained controversial.

In a comprehensive study, British scientists at University College London investigated how screening blood tests or ultrasound screening can reduce the risk of fatal ovarian cancer. The team led by Professor Ian Jacobs concludes that an annual blood test could significantly reduce the number of deaths from ovarian cancer. However, there was no clear improvement in survival prospects from ultrasound screening. The researchers have published their findings in the journal "The Lancet".

The fatal course of ovarian cancer may be reduced by a screening blood test. (Image: freshidea / fotolia.com)

More than 200,000 women examined
In the randomized controlled trial, the researchers used more than 200,000 women to investigate possible benefits of the screening methods. Over a period of 11 years on average, Professor Jacobs and colleagues observed the incidence of ovarian cancer and related deaths in 202,546 subjects, 50,624 of whom regularly participated in a screening blood test, 50,623 on ultrasound screenings, and 101,299 without any screening. The age of the participants was between 50 and 74 years. Over the study period, 1,282 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer (338 cases in the blood test group, 314 cases in the ultrasound group and 630 cases in the group without screening). A total of 649 women had died as a result of the disease (148 cases blood test group, 154 in the ultrasound group and 347 in the group without screening).

Death rate reduced by 20 percent
While there seemed to be no correlation between screening methods and fatal disease outcomes at first glance, excluding the most prevalent forms of ovarian cancer, there has been a significant reduction in deaths in the blood test group, the researchers report. Compared to the subjects without screening here was a 20 percent lower death rate was observed. However, further studies would need to further investigate this effect before a general recommendation on screening blood tests can be made. (Fp)