Blood test detects early ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer doesn't produce symptoms until it is in the advanced stage and current blood tests are not very sensitive in picking it up. A new blood test may help in the early detection.Researchers from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York found that blood levels of a protein called YKL-40 are more accurate than standard tests for other proteins like CA125 and CA15-3 for detecting early-stage of ovarian cancer.The researching team measured YKL-40 in blood samples from 46 healthy women, 61 women at high risk for ovarian cancer, 33 women with non-malignant gynecologic disorders, and 50 pre-operative patients subsequently diagnosed with early ovarian cancer. The investigators also measured CA125 and CA15-3 levels.

YKL-40 levels distinguished normal individuals and high-risk patients from ovarian cancer patients very reliably. It was found that YKL levels were high in 72 per cent of the women with early ovarian cancer, while CA125 levels were elevated in only 46 per cent and CA15-3 levels in only 26 per cent.Researchers also found that the YKL assay has the advantage of being commercially available, easily reproducible, and inexpensive.

Yet further studies of YKL-40 are warranted, to define the performance of the marker throughout the history of an ovarian cancer patient, including preoperative, postoperative, chemotherapy, and tumor-monitoring periods.

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