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Researchers develop more accurate ovarian cancer test

Category: Ovarian

Despite the fact that ovarian cancer can be easily treated when it is diagnosed early, it is often deadly because it can be difficult to detect. Malignant tumors often appear to doctors as benign, which prevents fatal cancers from being treated while they are most susceptible.

However, a team of researchers from the University of Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium has developed a new ovarian cancer testing technique that allows doctors to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors using ultrasound imaging.

The research team says that the method may significantly improve doctors' ability to diagnose ovarian cancer in its early stages, which may lead to more effective treatment.

"It is not always easy to characterise ovarian tumours, but a reliable preoperative diagnosis is very important," said Dirk Timmerman, who led development of the cancer testing technique. When operating on a malignant tumour, the cystic contents should not be spilled, because spread of the cancer cells in the abdomen clearly decreases the patient's chances of survival."

Testing on more than 2,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer proved that the ultrasound testing method is more than 77 percent accurate.