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Many years ago, researchers hailed a test that measures CA-125, a protein associated with ovarian cancer, in a woman's blood.
People thought that might be the screening test that would provide an early alert to ovarian cancer. But, although some people advocate for more widespread use of the test, most experts say it hasn't lived up to its early promise.
Dr. Nick Ritcher said he and his partner, Dr. Francisco Ampuero, see about 70 new ovarian cancer patients a year in their Albuquerque practice. Of those, only about half show elevated levels of CA-125, he said.
The other side of the coin is that women may register high levels that are not caused by ovarian cancer, but by pregnancy, endometriosis, uterine fibroids or other conditions, according to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
At this point, the test generally is used after someone is diagnosed to see if the cancer has been eliminated or might be recurring.
Mary Lou Christophersen said she asked for the test, but her primary care physician refused to order it, saying it wouldn't tell her anything. When she finally was diagnosed and tested after surgery for the cancer, Christophersen said, her CA-125 came back at 3,000 normal is 35 and below, she said.
"It would have told them something," she said.
But Connie Souza said her CA-125 registered only an 11 when her symptoms told her the cancer had reappeared in her body.
"There is no screening test for this disease," Ritcher said.
That doesn't mean there never will be. Research reported in the Sept. 15 issue of Cancer Research reported a method of measuring hypermethylation (a way in which genes that protect against ovarian tumor development are shut off). Early studies showed that technique useful in detecting ovarian cancers, researchers reported.
Other research centers on proteomics identifying a pattern of certain proteins in the blood that can be associated with ovarian cancer.
It may be many years down the road before you see such research blossom into a standard screening tool, though.
Suppose you want to reduce your risk. The disease is associated with ovulation the more you ovulate, the more likely you are to develop ovarian cancer. If you take birth control pills or have many children, for example, your risk is lessened, Ritcher said.
You can reduce your risk even more if you have your ovaries removed a step generally taken only by women who have a strong genetic predisposition to the cancer. But even then, the risk isn't zero. Ovarian cancer actually can originate in the peritoneum, a membrane that covers the abdominal cavity and has cells identical to those that cover the ovaries, Ritcher said.
Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal
