Ultrasound could be the best way to screen for the preliminary stages of ovarian cancer, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. In a study that began in 1987, transvaginal sonography (TVS) was able to pinpoint stage 1 and stage 2 cancers in nearly 15,000 women.
Dr. John van Nagell, Jr., leader of the study, presented his team’s findings February 7 at the Society of Gynecologic Onocologists meeting in San Diego. He is director of the division of gynecologic oncology at the university’s Lucille P. Markey Cancer Center.
The first phase of the University of Kentucky Ovarian Cancer Screening Project took place from December 1987 to December 1993. In that screening trial, more than 6,000 women were divided into several groups: asymptomatic, postmenopausal patients; patients who were over 50 years of age; and asymptomatic women over 30 with a family history of ovarian cancer.
All of the women underwent TVS. Those with abnormal results had a repeat sonogram or a serum CA-125 determination. According to the results, 90 patients with a persistent abnormality on TVS underwent exploratory laparotomy or laparoscopy for tumor removal. Another 37 had serous cystadenomas and six had primary ovarian cancer. All the patients were still alive one to five years after conventional therapy (Gynecol Oncol, June 1997, Vol. 65, No.3, pp.408-14).
At the San Diego meeting, van Nagell reported that by the end of 1999, 14,469 women had been screened and 180 had tumors removed. Of the 17 malignant tumors found, 11 were stage 1 or were restricted to one or both ovaries.
When ovarian cancer is caught early, the cure rate is 90%, according to the Women’s Cancer Network. However, the majority of the 14,000 women in the U.S. who die of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the later stages, when the disease has spread into other parts of the reproductive system or beyond.
By Shalmali Pal
February 9, 2000
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
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