A successful on-line aid for doctors has now been extended to help them recognise ovarian cancer, it was announced today.
The algorithm has been developed at Nottingham University, UK, by the team developing the QCancer system.
The system can help GPs decide whether a patient needs referral for investigation for cancer.
The latest aid is successful at predicting two thirds of cancers in the ten per cent of women most at risk of developing the disease, according to its developers.
The research is reported today by the British Medical Journal.
Symptoms of ovarian cancer can include loss of appetite, weight loss and abdominal pain – but these can also be caused by common and less serious conditions.
The Nottingham researchers used data from 564 GP practices to assess their algorithm.
Researcher Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox said: "Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to spot and we hope that this new tool will help GPs identify patients most at risk of having ovarian cancer for early referral and investigations."
British Medical Journal January 4 2011
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