Conducting annual checks on women facing a high risk of cancer of the ovaries is inadequate, according to the findings of a major UK study reported today.
The research suggests the women need to be screened several times a year in order to detect cancer before it starts spreading.
Researchers have reported the findings of a study during which more than 3,500 women were screened annual over a seven-year-period.
During the study, 26 of the women contracted cancer of the ovaries or fallopian tube. And in most cases the cancer had already begun spreading.
Researchers found the cancer was usually detected before it reached an advanced stage – but there was no improvement in the rate of detecting cancers in the early stages, before it spreads.
The study has now moved on to testing the benefits of checking women every four months. The women in the research were over the age of 35 and had decided not to have preventative surgery to remove the ovaries.
The findings have been reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researcher Adam Rosenthal, of the Barts Cancer Institute, London, said: "At this time, annual screening cannot be considered to be such a safe bet as risk-reducing surgery and it’s important that high-risk women know the options and outlooks available to them."
Jessica Harris, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Until we have the results from two other key studies into ovarian cancer screening, it’s too soon to know whether any type of screening could be effective for high-risk women.
"So women with a strong family history of ovarian or other cancers should talk to their doctors about the options and whether they could be referred for genetic testing."
Rosenthal, A et al. Results of Annual Screening in Phase I of the United Kingdom Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study Highlight the Need for Strict Adherence to Screening Schedule. Journal of Clinical Oncology December 6 2012; doi:10.1200/JCO.2011.39.7638
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