Early detection of ovarian cancer through longitudinal measurements of biomarker panel
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Citation
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers. Women are frequently diagnosed at later stages of the disease, which are particularly resistant to currently available treatment options. At this time, there is currently no recommended screening for ovarian cancer. Given that the disease has a very high mortality rate when not diagnosed at an early stage, a significant amount of research has gone into finding an effective screening plan for early-stage diagnosis. To date there has not been a specific and sensitive enough screening strategy developed, given the relatively low prevalence of the disease in the population. Here we propose a study to test out a panel of biomarkers to be trended over time in addition to CA 125. The biomarkers to be measured include CA125, TP53, HE4, CA 72-4 and FR-alpha. The goal of the study is to determine if the use of a panel of biomarkers will help to improve early detection of ovarian cancer and catch those cancers missed when solely CA 125 is measured.