Screening for ovarian cancer did not reduce deaths during study ANI | Updated: May 14, 2021 09:29 IST
London [UK], May 14 (ANI): A large-scale randomised trial of annual screening for ovarian cancer, led by UCL researchers, did not succeed in reducing deaths from the disease, despite one of the screening methods tested detecting cancers earlier.
Results from the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) have been published in a report in the medical journal The Lancet.
In the UK, 4,000 women die from ovarian cancer each year. It is not usually diagnosed until it is at a late stage and hard to treat. UKCTOCS was designed to test the hypothesis that a reliable screening method that picks up ovarian cancer earlier can save lives when treatments are more likely to be effective.
Ovarian cancer population screening did not cut deaths – study
Blood test (Simon Dawson/PA)
Regular screening for ovarian cancer at a population level did not reduce deaths from the disease, according to a large-scale UK trial.
The findings, published in the journal The Lancet, are based on data from more than 200,000 women who were followed up for 16 years.
Two screening methods were examined in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a yearly ultrasound scan, or an annual blood test alongside the ultrasound scan – known as multimodal screening.
While multimodal testing picked up some cancer cases at an early stage, the researchers said neither screening method translated into more lives being saved.
Annual screening for ovarian cancer can detect tumours earlier but does not save lives, one of the largest studies ever conducted on the general population suggests. Although the finding is a blow to those affected by ovarian cancer, the hope is that earlier diagnosis could reduce the amount and intensity of treatment that women go through. About 7,500 British women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and 4,000 die from it, making it the.