Blood test provides early detection of ovarian cancer

February 15, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers have developed what they believe is the first blood biomarker test that accurately detects ovarian cancer at an early stage.

"The ability to recognize almost 100% of new tumors will have a major impact on the high death rates of this cancer," senior author Dr. Gil Mor, from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, said in a statement. "We hope this test will become the standard of care for women having routine examinations."

In a 2005 study, Dr. Mor's team first described a biomarker panel that can detect stage I and II ovarian cancer. In the present phase II trial, the researchers expanded the panel from four proteins to six and used a multiplex, bead-based immunoassay system to measure protein levels in 362 healthy controls and 156 newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients.

The six proteins included in the test were leptin, prolactin, osteopontin, insulin-like growth factor II, macrophage inhibitory factor, and CA-125, according to the report in the February 15th issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

Alone, none of the biomarkers could distinguish the cancer patients from the healthy controls, the authors note. When all six biomarkers were measured, however, the test was 95.3% sensitive and 99.4% specific in detecting ovarian cancer.

A phase III evaluation of the biomarker assay is currently underway.