Ovarian cancers detected early may be less aggressive, questioning effectiveness of screening

For this study, researchers examined samples of advanced ovarian cancers from patients who had experienced long-term survival -- over seven years -- and patients who had done extremely poorly, and died within three years of diagnosis.

"We found that certain patterns predicted long-term survival and others predicted a poorer prognosis in advanced stage cases," Berchuck said. "Cancers that were detected at an early stage almost always shared gene expression characteristics with advanced stage cases that were long-term survivors, suggesting a shared favorable biology."