May 30th, 2006: Launch of Nation-wide study for early detection of ovarian cancer

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MCGILL UNIVERSITY

MCGILL UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Transmitted by CNW Group on : May 30, 2006 13:04
Launch of Nation-wide study for early detection of ovarian cancer

MONTREAL, May 30 /CNW Telbec/ - A multidisciplinary team of researchers
from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), and the universities of
Sherbrooke, Laval, Quebec, McGill and Calgary have launched a multi-centre
study designed for early identification of women at risk of ovarian cancer
(OC).
The study known as "DOVE - Detecting OVarian Cancer Earlier" is the
initiative of gynecological oncologist, Dr Lucy Gilbert of the McGill
University Health Centre (MUHC). Gilbert and a team of gynecological
oncologists, family practitioners, general gynecologists, mathematicians,
epidemiologists and scientists from centres across Canada have combined their
medical expertise to defeat this disease. Although ovarian cancer is
considered "the silent killer", there are numerous studies that show that
women with ovarian cancer are symptomatic but unfortunately because the signs
are vague and non-specific in nature, they are ignored by women and their
doctors.
"Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women and
deadliest of the gynecological cancers" says Dr. Lucy Gilbert, the principal
investigator in the study. "The statistics are alarming and a reliable
assessment tool to detect this disease early and while it is treatable (in
stage 1 of the disease) must be developed without delay. We owe this to women
and the DOVE team is determined to work on achieving this goal," she explains.
Of the 2400 new women diagnosed each year more than 75% will die from the
disease. Four women die per day in Canada from ovarian cancer because most are
diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease (stages 2 and 3). However, if
the cancer is detected early (at stage 1) more than 80% will survive.
"By the time women present to us with ovarian cancer over 60% are already
at stage three and four - very advanced stages of the cancer" says
gynecological oncologist, Dr. Prafull Ghatage of Calgary's Tom Baker Cancer
Centre. "Even with heroic efforts at surgery followed by the best available
chemotherapy combination we are able to achieve long term survival in only
about 20%".
"Screening women without clearly defined / recognized symptoms is not
recommended by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination and
the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force because it results in unnecessary
major surgery and has the potential to do more harm than good", says Dr Michel
Roy of University of Laval. "In the DOVE trial we are working with women who
have indications of OC to clearly profile a cluster of symptoms from the 70 or
so non-specific symptoms that would identify women with a high likelihood of
having the disease", adds Roy who is the president of the 'Regroupement des
Gynécologues-Oncologues du Québec'.
Dr Martin Dawes, Chair of Family Medicine at McGill, and director of
Family Medicine at the MUHC explains, "The challenge for doctors who first see
the patient is to identify those who do need urgent investigations from those
who do not." The Dove study is designed to further ensure that the predictive
tool we recommend to family doctors and general gynecologists profiles ovarian
cancer as precisely as possible, so the system is neither swamped by
over-investigating, nor is there undue delay in identifying women with cancer.
"The only way to defeat this deadly disease is if primary, secondary and
tertiary care services work as real partners', he emphasizes.
Epidemiologists, Dr.Marie-Elise Parent of Institut Armand-Frappier,
University of Quebec, and Dr. James Hanley of McGill University will be
instrumental in ensuring that the predictive tool is refined and tested in
three phases to ensure that it profiles early ovarian cancer as precisely as
possible. "In Phase I we will identify an accurate symptom profile and develop
a reliable diagnostic tool to detect ovarian cancer. In phase II we will
refine and validate this tool and by phase three, we will be able to take the
prediction tool and apply it to the community to fast-track women with
suspected OC", says Dr. Duarte-Franco, the trial coordinator.
In addition to identifying women with OC symptoms early, the Dove trial
will also allow scientists to compare large numbers of cancer patients with
controls, identifying not just the clinical or symptom profiles of women with
ovarian cancer, but also their molecular biology profile. Dr. Michel Tremblay,
Director of the McGill Cancer Centre, and his team will work on identifying
genetic and proteonomic markers that may allow detection of the disease even
before symptoms set in.

About the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic
health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical
programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching
hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University--the
Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal
Neurological Hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on
the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the
MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the
health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.

For more information on the DOVE study please contact: Dr. Eliane D.
Franco at (514) 398-2278.



-30-

/For further information: Seeta Ramdass, Public Relations &
Communications Coordinator, McGill University Health Centre Public Relations &
Communications Services, (514) 843-1560/

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