Small Victories in the War Against Ovarian Cancer

New diagnostics and a potential vaccine offer hope, experts say

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

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SUNDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose, making it one of the most lethal.

The ovaries aren't easily accessible for examination, unlike a woman's skin or breast or cervix. And the symptoms that accompany ovarian cancer are vague and can be confused with other less life-threatening conditions.

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"A lot of women with ovarian cancer will retrospectively say, 'Yes, I had these symptoms,' but the symptoms are vague and can be associated with other illnesses," said Debbie Saslow, director of breast and gynecologic cancer for the American Cancer Society.

Because of its elusive nature, ovarian cancer often isn't caught in time to save the patient. Three of every four ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, after the malignancy has spread beyond the ovary, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Although the fight against the disease has been slow and at times frustrating, doctors believe they are finally making some headway toward saving more lives.

When ovarian cancer is found at an early stage -- about 20 percent of the time -- it proves crucial to the woman's chances. About 94 percent of patients who receive an early diagnosis live longer than five years, according to the American Cancer Society.

That compares to an overall 46 percent survival rate for all women with ovarian cancer -- a rate that has improved a poor 8 percent over the last 30 years. During that same period, leaps in research have made a host of other cancers much more survivable.

"That's what makes ovarian cancer such a miserable diagnosis, because it's diagnosed so late that the best treatment isn't likely to really work," said M. Robyn Andersen, an associate member of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "If we can increase the rate of early diagnosis, that's probably the most likely way we're going to change the survival rate for ovarian cancer."

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