Commentary on ‘Performance of ultrasound as a second line test to serum CA125 in ovarian cancer screening’

Commentary - open access

 Conclusions

The last 50 years have seen a sea change in ideas regarding the origins of ovarian cancer, its natural history and the best ways of improving mortality. Despite advances in chemotherapy regimens and targeted therapies there has been little change in the prognosis for women with advanced disease. Hope therefore rests with the ability of ovarian cancer screening strategies to shift the burden of disease to earlier stages, which may translate to better clinical outcomes and reduced mortality. Multimodal screening and ultrasound-based approaches have been shown to be sensitive and specific for detecting ovarian cancer but whether these in themselves will provide sufficient lead time to change the course of the disease remains to be shown. Ultimately success will depend on the continued momentum of the multiple international and multidisciplinary collaborations forged to ensure that research will continue for better biomarkers that can be translated into clinical interventions. It is imperative that clinicians and researchers continue to engage the public and capitalise on the enthusiasm embodied by the high compliance rates seen in the screening studies to work towards reducing mortality from ovarian cancer.