Ovarian cancer is potentially curable if diagnosed at an early stage. Unfortunately only 20-25% of the patients are diagnosed with early stage disease, ie. Stage I and Stage II. Majority of the patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed with Stage III or Stage IV disease. Screening postmenopausal women or those considered to be at high risk therefore makes perfect sense. A British study presented at ASCO 2010, screened postmenopausal women, considered not to be at high risk,with a combination of pelvic ultrasound and CA-125. Preliminary data is very promising and screening techniques were able to diagnose ovarian cancer at an earlier stage.
It is possible that we may have an algorithm to screen for ovarian cancer, in the very near future.
