DEVELOPING A NEW DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR OVARIAN CANCER TO DETECT OVARIAN CANCER AT AN EARLIER MORE CURABLE STAGE
What tests are available to detect ovarian cancer?
A problem with ovarian cancer is that it may not be detected until an advanced stage. In general, the earlier a cancer is detected the easier it is to treat. Early detection is especially important for ovarian cancer. Although many people have heard of CA 125 as a test for ovarian cancer detection, it has not been enough to detect ovarian cancer early. CA 125 is more often used as a test to follow the progress of treatment. So the search has been on for ways to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage.
What are Scientists at University of South Florida Studying?
Scientists at the University of South Florida have been evaluating a urine test for a protein called Bcl-2 in urine as a method to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage. Bcl-2 is a chemical, a protein that may appear in greater quantities with many cancers but the USF scientists were looking at Bcl-2 in urine and it's association with ovarian cancer. Geo Pharma, a pharmaceutical company has licensed the rights to use the University of South Florida work as an early stage diagnostic urine test for ovarian cancer.
As Dr. Kruk of the University of South Florida said in an interview in 2006 "BCL-2 is a protein that normally prevents cell death. In your normal cells, there is constantly a homeostasis between cells that have to die or survive depending upon how much damage or trauma they might have experienced. For cancer cells, there are unique characteristics. Obviously cancer cells have a tendency to be able to survive in situations where a normal cell would not. As a result, the protein that we have been looking at, called BCL-2, is normally a protein that prevents cell death. We have found in a lot of other people that this protein, BCL-2, is over expressed in a lot of cancers, not just ovarian cancer, but our study has focused on ovarian cancer. Where we have found BCL-2 is expressed in high levels in the urine with women with ovarian cancer".
How is Ovarian Cancer Detected and Diagnosed?
If a woman or her doctor suspects ovarian cancer, diagnosis begins with a medical history of the patient, review of her symptoms, and complete physical examination, including a pelvic exam, in which the physician feels the vagina, ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder, and rectum to check for any growths. A Pap test may also be done because, even though it cannot reliably detect ovarian cancer, it may detect cancer cells that have migrated to the uterine cervix from the ovaries.
Blood and urine tests may also be done, as well other procedures, depending on the woman's symptoms and results of her physical exam. Procedures that might be done in the search for ovarian cancer include:
The only sure way to diagnose ovarian cancer, however, is through microscopic examination by a pathologist of abnormal-looking fluid or tissue. While fluid can sometimes be obtained by needle aspiration or other techniques, more commonly a laparatomy or laparoscopy is done. Laparotomy is an exploratory operation in which the surgeon examines the abdomen thoroughly and removes fluid or tissue for examination. In laparascopy, a flexible, lighted tube is passed through a small incision in the abdomen, allowing the surgeon to examine the area and extract tissue for a biopsy.
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