OVARIAN CANCER and US: ovarian cancer; symptoms

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Showing posts with label ovarian cancer; symptoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ovarian cancer; symptoms. Show all posts

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Jan 15th: New Symptom Indices Offer No Gain in Ovarian Ca - in Oncology/Hematology, Ovarian Cancer from MedPage Today



Action Points  

  • Explain that two new ovarian cancer symptom indices offered little advantage over the current Goff Index.


  • Point out that for all three indices, sensitivity was lower for data obtained from the general practitioner's notes and highest for those interviewed over the telephone, ant that the specificity was largely unchanged
"The small differences between the three indices indicate that there is little to gain from deriving new symptom indices," the authors concluded.


"This sobering news follows hard on the heels of a large U.S. randomized trial finding no benefit, and indeed some harm, to women who were screened annually with a transvaginal ultrasound exam and a CA-125 blood test compared with a usual care control group," they wrote, referring to the NIH-sponsored Prostate, Lung, Colon, and Ovary (PLCO) screening program (JAMA 2011; 305:2295-2303).

They said one question the ovarian cancer community needs to answer is where it should focus its efforts: On the time between when a tumor is large enough to cause mild symptoms and when it is large enough to cause symptoms that prompt women to call a physician, or on a better understanding of disease etiology, leading to better prevention and therapy.

"These other research directions remain critical as the search continues for better ways to find ovarian cancer early," they said.


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