£20 ovarian cancer test could save thousands of women

THOUSANDS of lives could be saved if women over 50 were given an annual £20 blood test for ovarian cancer, a landmark study has found.

Results from the 14-year trial involving 200,000 British women suggest that the test would cut deaths by 20 per cent.

Ovarian cancer kills 4,300 women in Britain each year. It is the fifth most common cancer, with more than 7,000 cases annually. Three quarters of victims are diagnosed only after the cancer has spread, making it much harder to treat.

Health experts hailed the new study as a ‘landmark step’ in tackling ovarian cancer and a major step towards a national screening programme.

But it will be some time before such a programme is introduced, because scientists are concerned about the number of ‘false positives’, when women were told they had cancer when they did not.

The trial confirmed that for every three women with a positive screening who subsequently had surgery, two were found not to have the cancer. Led by experts at University College London, it suggests that a yearly blood test for levels of a particular protein could prevent approximately 15 deaths for every 10,000 women screened.

Dr Simon Newman, director of research at Target Ovarian Cancer, said: ‘The results of this landmark study, a milestone in ovarian cancer research, put us in a stronger position in our collective quest for improving earlier diagnosis so more women can survive the disease.’

The researchers, whose study is published in the Lancet medical jour- nal, tested more than 200,000 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 74, for 14 years. They found that annual testing for a protein in the blood called CA125 resulted in overall reduced mortality of 20 per cent, rising to 28 per cent among women who had received the test for between seven and 14 years.

Current NHS guidelines suggest that the CA125 test is offered to women who show symptoms of ovarian cancer. If they test positive they have an ultrasound scan and then, if there are signs of a tumour, they begin treatment. But many doctors believe this is already too late.

Experts say a national screening programme – similar to routine breast cancer testing, which is thought to have cut deaths by 40 per cent – is needed. Katherine Taylor, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said: ‘Ovarian cancer has notoriously poor survival rates. We need a screening programme to stop women dying from this insidious disease.’

Professor Christina Fotopoulou, of the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre in West London, said: ‘We’ve always been one step behind the disease but a screening method would allow us to catch it at a stage that makes treatment more effective.

‘While we’re not there yet, this study shows that research in the field is gaining pace.’

The findings have also been welcomed by cancer patients themselves. Lisa Arthurs, 26, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer five years ago. Fortunately she was diagnosed quickly and had life- saving surgery within three weeks.

Miss Arthurs, a physiotherapist from East London, said: ‘Mine is a good news story, my cancer was diagnosed and treated quickly. All women should have the same chance which is why I am encouraged [by the latest findings].’

‘Notoriously poor survival rate’