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Ovarian Cancer Screening May Cut Cancer Deaths

Summary: Why does ovarian cancer have a poor prognosis?
Air Date: 1/29/16
Duration: 10
Guest Bio: Steven Skates, PhD
Steven Skates, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on three aspects of early detection of ovarian cancer.

He co-developed the risk of ovarian cancer algorithm (ROCA) which has been tested in five early detection trials in the USA and UK in genetic high risk women and the general population.

The largest, the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS), recently published in The Lancet, was a definitive 15 year screening trial of 200,000 postmenopausal women and showed promising results for reducing ovarian cancer mortality. He is a consultant to Abcodia which has licensed software from MGH.
    Ovarian Cancer Screening May Cut Cancer Deaths
    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year about 200,000 women in the U.S. develop ovarian cancer.

    It is often referred to as the silent killer, because the warning signs such as painful sex, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue are often mistaken for something else.

    Recently, a study was conducted on ovarian cancer screening and mortality in the UK. In the study, researchers randomly selected women between the ages of 50-74 with ovarian malignancy, increased risk of familial ovarian cancer, and active non-ovarian malignancy.

    What did the researchers find?

    Listen in as Steven Skates, PhD, shares the recent study on ovarian cancer and the correlation between screening and deaths due to ovarian cancer.