Speciality Medical Dialogues
    • facebook
    • twitter
    Login Register
    • facebook
    • twitter
    Login Register
    • Medical Dialogues
    • Education Dialogues
    • Business Dialogues
    • Medical Jobs
    • Medical Matrimony
    • MD Brand Connect
    Speciality Medical Dialogues
    • Editorial
    • News
        • Anesthesiology
        • Cancer
        • Cardiac Sciences
        • Critical Care
        • Dentistry
        • Dermatology
        • Diabetes and Endo
        • Diagnostics
        • ENT
        • Featured Research
        • Gastroenterology
        • Geriatrics
        • Medicine
        • Nephrology
        • Neurosciences
        • Nursing
        • Obs and Gynae
        • Ophthalmology
        • Orthopaedics
        • Paediatrics
        • Parmedics
        • Pharmacy
        • Psychiatry
        • Pulmonology
        • Radiology
        • Surgery
        • Urology
    • Practice Guidelines
        • Anesthesiology Guidelines
        • Cancer Guidelines
        • Cardiac Sciences Guidelines
        • Critical Care Guidelines
        • Dentistry Guidelines
        • Dermatology Guidelines
        • Diabetes and Endo Guidelines
        • Diagnostics Guidelines
        • ENT Guidelines
        • Featured Practice Guidelines
        • Gastroenterology Guidelines
        • Geriatrics Guidelines
        • Medicine Guidelines
        • Nephrology Guidelines
        • Neurosciences Guidelines
        • Obs and Gynae Guidelines
        • Ophthalmology Guidelines
        • Orthopaedics Guidelines
        • Paediatrics Guidelines
        • Psychiatry Guidelines
        • Pulmonology Guidelines
        • Radiology Guidelines
        • Surgery Guidelines
        • Urology Guidelines
    LoginRegister
    Speciality Medical Dialogues
    LoginRegister
    • Home
    • Editorial
    • News
      • Anesthesiology
      • Cancer
      • Cardiac Sciences
      • Critical Care
      • Dentistry
      • Dermatology
      • Diabetes and Endo
      • Diagnostics
      • ENT
      • Featured Research
      • Gastroenterology
      • Geriatrics
      • Medicine
      • Nephrology
      • Neurosciences
      • Nursing
      • Obs and Gynae
      • Ophthalmology
      • Orthopaedics
      • Paediatrics
      • Parmedics
      • Pharmacy
      • Psychiatry
      • Pulmonology
      • Radiology
      • Surgery
      • Urology
    • Practice Guidelines
      • Anesthesiology Guidelines
      • Cancer Guidelines
      • Cardiac Sciences Guidelines
      • Critical Care Guidelines
      • Dentistry Guidelines
      • Dermatology Guidelines
      • Diabetes and Endo Guidelines
      • Diagnostics Guidelines
      • ENT Guidelines
      • Featured Practice Guidelines
      • Gastroenterology Guidelines
      • Geriatrics Guidelines
      • Medicine Guidelines
      • Nephrology Guidelines
      • Neurosciences Guidelines
      • Obs and Gynae Guidelines
      • Ophthalmology Guidelines
      • Orthopaedics Guidelines
      • Paediatrics Guidelines
      • Psychiatry Guidelines
      • Pulmonology Guidelines
      • Radiology Guidelines
      • Surgery Guidelines
      • Urology Guidelines
    • Home
    • News
    • Cancer
    • New blood test can...

    New blood test can gauge ovarian cancer in women with suspicious symptoms

    Written by Hina Zahid Published On 2019-12-08T19:10:02+05:30  |  Updated On 8 Dec 2019 7:10 PM IST
    New blood test can gauge ovarian cancer in women with suspicious symptoms

    Glasgow, UK: New blood test can gauge ovarian cancer in women with suspicious symptoms. This involves testing for levels of CA125 in the blood which is a useful tool for gauging the likelihood of ovarian cancer and which could help detect other types of cancer among patients in primary care, according to research presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference.


    Although the CA125 test is already in use in countries around the world, this is the first large study to look at how well it performs in general practice for testing women who have possible symptoms of ovarian cancer.


    Researchers say their results could guide women and their GPs on whether more invasive tests are needed to check for ovarian and other cancers. They also say that clinical guidelines could now be improved to ensure urgent referrals are made for women most at risk.


    The research was led by Dr Garth Funston, a Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK. He said: "Less than half of women with ovarian cancer survive for five years following diagnosis. The majority of women are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced, which makes it more difficult to cure.


    "It's important that GPs have effective tools to detect ovarian cancer early and ensure patients are referred appropriately. While CA125 is widely used in general practice in the UK and internationally, prior to this study, it was unclear how effective a test it really was in general practice."


    The research included data on 50,780 women who visited GPs in England with possible signs of ovarian cancer, such as persistent bloating or abdominal pain and were tested for levels of CA125 in their blood between May 2011 and December 2014.


    Researchers compared the results of these blood tests with data on which women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer or another form of cancer in the 12 months following their blood test.


    They discovered that 10% of women who had an abnormally high level of CA125 in their blood were found to have ovarian cancer. This figure is much higher than previously thought and ten times higher than the estimate given in the UK's 2011 NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines on ovarian cancer diagnosis.


    In women who had abnormal test results and were aged 50 years or older, 15% were found to have ovarian cancer, while in women under 50 with high CA125 levels, only 3% were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.


    Results also showed that around 17% of women 50 years or older with an abnormal result were diagnosed with another form of the disease, such as pancreatic, lung or womb cancer.


    The large size of the study meant that researchers were, for the first time, able to look in detail at women with different levels of CA125 in their blood in general practice and give more accurate estimates of cancer risk according to those levels.


    The amount of CA125 in the blood is measured in units per millilitre (U/ml) and it can range from one to thousands. Dr Funston and his colleagues found, for example, that women with a CA125 level of 51 U/ml had a 3% probability of ovarian cancer. Three per cent is the level of risk at which NICE recommends urgent cancer referral.


    Dr Funston said: "Our work shows that CA125 is a very useful test for detecting ovarian cancer in general practice.


    "Our results can be used by doctors to determine the chance of a woman in general practice having ovarian cancer based on the CA125 level. This could help guide decisions made by GPs and their patients about the need for further investigation or referral.


    "Our findings also highlight that women with symptoms who are aged 50 years or more and have abnormally high CA125 levels frequently have other types of cancer. It is really important that GPs are aware of this to ensure these cancers are not missed."


    Dr Funston and his team continue their work on early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Their study of CA125 blood testing forms part of efforts to create a prediction tool to help GPs spot women who may have the disease as early as possible.


    Dr Shibani Nicum, Chair of NCRI's ovarian cancer subgroup and consultant medical oncologist at Oxford University Hospitals, who was not involved in the research said: "Diagnosing more cases of ovarian cancer at an early stage could have a big impact on survival and GPs are an essential part of that process.


    "These findings could help doctors interpret test results and inform their decisions about which tests their patients need next. For instance, an older woman who has an abnormal CA125 level should be considered high risk for ovarian cancer. Even if she does not turn out to have ovarian cancer, she might have another form of the disease and either way she will probably need an urgent referral.


    "These finding can also be used to expand on existing clinical guidelines, both in the UK and other countries, to improve ovarian cancer diagnosis at the national and international level."


    NATIONAL CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    abdominal painBlood testNational Institute for Health and Care Excellenceovarian cancerOxford University HospitalsUniversity of Cambridge
    Source : 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference

    Disclaimer: This site is primarily intended for healthcare professionals. Any content/information on this website does not replace the advice of medical and/or health professionals and should not be construed as medical/diagnostic advice/endorsement or prescription. Use of this site is subject to our terms of use, privacy policy, advertisement policy. © 2020 Minerva Medical Treatment Pvt Ltd

    Hina Zahid
    Hina Zahid
      Show Full Article
      Next Story
      Similar Posts
      NO DATA FOUND

      • Email: info@medicaldialogues.in
      • Phone: 011 - 4372 0751

      Website Last Updated On : 12 Oct 2022 7:06 AM GMT
      Company
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Our Team
      • Reach our Editor
      • Feedback
      • Submit Article
      Ads & Legal
      • Advertise
      • Advertise Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy Policy
      • Editorial Policy
      • Comments Policy
      • Disclamier
      Medical Dialogues is health news portal designed to update medical and healthcare professionals but does not limit/block other interested parties from accessing our general health content. The health content on Medical Dialogues and its subdomains is created and/or edited by our expert team, that includes doctors, healthcare researchers and scientific writers, who review all medical information to keep them in line with the latest evidence-based medical information and accepted health guidelines by established medical organisations of the world.

      Any content/information on this website does not replace the advice of medical and/or health professionals and should not be construed as medical/diagnostic advice/endorsement or prescription.Use of this site is subject to our terms of use, privacy policy, advertisement policy. You can check out disclaimers here. © 2025 Minerva Medical Treatment Pvt Ltd

      © 2025 - Medical Dialogues. All Rights Reserved.
      Powered By: Hocalwire
      X
      We use cookies for analytics, advertising and to improve our site. You agree to our use of cookies by continuing to use our site. To know more, see our Cookie Policy and Cookie Settings.Ok