News: SGO: Biomarkers accurate in ovarian cancer detection

The measurement of two biomarkers in women with ovarian masses appears to be accurate in distinguishing which patients are most likely to have cancer, allowing those patients to be referred to gynecologic oncologists for further management, according to research findings presented at the 2008 Society of Gynecologic Oncologists' Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in Tampa, FL.

Richard Moore, MD, of Brown University in Providence, RI, and colleagues measured the blood proteins HE4 and CA125II in nearly 500 women with ovarian masses participating in a clinical trial in order to determine the biomarkers' predictive value in detecting ovarian cancer.

The researchers found that a "high-risk" test result correctly predicted 95% of cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, while a "low-risk" result correctly predicted the absence of cancer in most patients, leading to a negative predictive value of 95%.

More details on this research can be found at http:// http://www.sgo.org/content.aspx?id=58.