Ovarian cancer: GPs urged to use£20 blood test to improve survival rates | Mail Online

New guidelines: Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women

A blood test for ovarian cancer that could save hundreds of lives a year is being introduced to GPs’ surgeries.

It is hoped that the£20 procedure, which will become available over the coming months, will detect the disease far earlier.

Around 6,800 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, of whom two-thirds will not survive beyond five years.

Britain’s survival rates for the illness are among the lowest in the Western world. It is known as the silent killer because it is notoriously difficult to spot and is often detected in its final stages when it is incurable.

There are fears GPs are missing too many cases, with many women having to wait up to six months before the cancer is spotted.

Sufferers are frequently misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. In an effort to improve survival rates, NICE, the health watchdog, is now telling GPs to use the blood test on women over 50 with symptoms similar to IBS.

The test, normally carried out only in hospitals, measures the level in the blood of the protein CA-125, which is raised in women with ovarian cancer.

 

More...

• Do women inherit their mother's health? From breast cancer to obesity, how your genes can count more than your lifestyle

If the presence of CA-125 in a patient’s blood is high, she will be referred to a hospital for an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis.

As the blood test is only 50 per cent accurate, women with negative test results will be told to return to their GP if their symptoms persist.

Source