How can ovarian cancer be detected at an early stage?
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Dr. David Fishman of The Mount Sinai Medical Center answered:As clinical methods do not have the requisite positive predictive value to screen for ovarian cancer in its early stage, the focus has turned to other modalities like biomarkers (cellular, biochemical and molecular characteristics used in screening, early diagnosis, prognosis, tracking treatment response, or recurrence of disease) with and without combined imaging techniques.As clinical methods do not have the requisite positive predictive value to screen for ovarian cancer in its early stage, the focus has turned to other modalities like biomarkers (cellular, biochemical and molecular characteristics used in... More -
RealAge answered:Your ovaries lie deep within your pelvis, which makes disease detection tricky. Early screening methods for ovarian cancer have so far proved unreliable, and although routine pelvic exams include a check for anything that feels out of the ordinary, early-stage ovarian tumors easily escape detection because they're difficult to feel. In addition, ovarian cancer has a reputation for being "silent," meaning symptoms tend to be either vague or nonexistent until the disease has spread.
As a result, the vast majority of ovarian cancers are diagnosed when the cancer is in an advanced stage, at which point the chances of survival are significantly reduced. In a comparison of survival rates among women with one of the most common types of ovarian cancer, fewer than 20% of women diagnosed at an advanced stage (stage IV) survived more than 5 years after diagnosis. In contrast, 89% of women diagnosed at the earliest stage (stage I) did survive at least 5 years.Your ovaries lie deep within your pelvis, which makes disease detection tricky. Early screening methods for ovarian cancer have so far proved unreliable, and although routine pelvic exams include a check for anything that feels out of the ordinary,... More
