A large scale ovarian cancer screening trial - UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) – has not been able to demonstrate that annual screening saves lives.
The research at University College London analysed data from more than 200,000 postmenopausal women. Half of the women had no screening and the other half were offered a yearly vaginal ultrasound scan, or an annual blood test to detect a cancer-related protein called CA125
The results found that although blood test screening picked up 39 per cent more cancers at an early stage (stages one and two), compared with the vaginal ultrasound and no screening groups, this did not mean there was a reduction in deaths from ovarian cancer.
This means it cannot currently be adopted as a screening tool. However, Prof Mahesh Parmar, a senior author on the paper, has emphasised that in women who do have symptoms of ovarian cancer, early diagnosis, combined with significant improvements in the treatment of advanced disease over the past 10 years, could still save many lives.
Thank you. Good synopsis and the final paragraph brings back some positivity to those of us already fighting it. I’ve been feeling very wobbly the last couple of days and waking up to the headlines this morning was a real downer. This has put it back in perspective.
Thank you for your reply, we are so glad that the post has helped.
If talking through any of the other issues that have made the last few days difficult would be useful, please do get in touch. We are here to support you.
It was quite a comprehensive randomised trial involving over 200,000 post menopausal women. The full report is published online. While I was bitterly disappointed to hear this news, I feel even negative trials can be of some benefit & encourage further trials based on these findings.C
Thank you for your questions - interpreting the research data is complex because the results were obtained over a 20 year time frame and reported on via several interim reports. I am sorry that I can't find the answers to your questions after an initial review of the journal article, but I will consult my colleagues and together we will dig deeper into the data to come back to you with more information.
Having looked more deeply into the reported data, I'm sorry but I am still unable to answer your questions about Stage One/Two trial participants as I cannot find that level of information in the published results, but I did see that there will be further data publications:
"The individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this Article, after de-identification, will be available beginning 12 months after publication. Researchers will need to state the aims of any analyses and provide a methodologically sound proposal. Proposals should be directed to u.menon@ucl.ac.uk."
I had taken part in this research a while back, before my ovaries were removed.
I felt that the press coverage was interesting and did not focus on what to me seemed the obvious point which is that although the research didn’t fulfil the aim of launching a screening process, it did show what a seriously deadly form of cancer this is.
Clearly something all of us know too well, but could have been made clearer to those not as close to OvCancer and who need to understand how vital it is to act on any possible symptoms.
Just my thoughts. Thanks for sharing the results here.
Waited from 10 a.m.-for #ovariancancer (42% survival) item-as diagnosed 9 months ago. 12.30-still-not-shown. Typical. Then-they finally spent five seconds on it. Casually said only 1 in 3 #oc patients survive 10 years. again #testicularcancer 92% survival rate, #prostatecancer 85% but always on tv. women over 50 really are invisible even to over 50 female news anchors. Can-ovacome-do-anything-about-it.--@BBCJoannaG @BBCNews completely ignored ovarian cancer even in #ovariancancerawarenessmonth-which-was-shameful. Is-it-#misogyny--
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