In a new study, researchers have developed a new test that outperforms previous tests and can help detect ovarian cancer early.
The research was conducted by researchers from Tel Aviv University.
Previous studies have shown that less than half of women with ovarian cancer survive until five years after diagnosis.
This is because only about 20% of ovarian cancer cases are detected early. Women with ovarian cancer can survive best if they get diagnosis and treatment early.
In the current study, the team used proteomics to look for biomarkers of cancer in the uterine fluid.
They compared samples from 12 women with ovarian cancer who had surgery and from 12 volunteers who had surgery for reasons unrelated to cancer.
After that, they used machine learning algorithms to search for patterns that can help distinguish between the samples.
They found 9 proteins could help distinguish women with ovarian cancer from healthy women.
After that, the team tested the new test in 152 women, 37 of whom were known to have ovarian cancer.
The test correctly detected cancer 25 of the 37 women who truly had cancer and correctly identified about t75% healthy volunteers as healthy.
The test has greater sensitivity and specificity than reported before.
The team hopes the test will help screen women who are genetically predisposed to the disease.
They suggest that their test may be useful for young women whose risk of developing ovarian cancer can be high.
The test may also be useful to catch other difficult-to-detect types of cancer.
The lead author of the study is Keren Levanon, a physician-researcher at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel.
The study is published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
