open access: BMJ - Identifying women with suspected ovarian cancer in primary care: derivation and validation of algorithm | BMJ

Objective 

To derive and validate an algorithm to estimate the absolute risk of having ovarian cancer in women with and without symptoms.

Main outcome The primary outcome was incident diagnosis of ovarian cancer recorded in the next two years.

The incidence rate in our population was higher than published national data based on cancer registries.2

What is already known on this topic

• Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecological cancer and most women are diagnosed with late stage disease, which has a poor survival rate
• Earlier diagnosis could improve with more targeted investigation of symptomatic patients and increased public awareness of symptoms, which is a major challenge given the non-specific nature of some of the symptoms

What this study adds

• An algorithm based on simple clinical variables such as age, family history of ovarian cancer, anaemia, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, rectal bleeding, postmenopausal bleeding, appetite loss, and weight loss, which the patient is likely to know or which are routinely recorded in general practice computer systems, can estimate absolute risk of ovarian cancer in women with and without symptoms in primary care
• The algorithm could be integrated into general practice clinical computer systems and used to assess risk in women presenting with and without symptoms