A study in the journal CANCER has found worrying evidence that ovarian cancer is not recognized at a stage early enough for treatment to be effective. Many women diagnosed with ovarian cancer actually complained of symptoms of the disease at least four months before they were diagnosed. Although complaints of abdominal pain and swelling are not specific to ovarian cancer, the researchers found that only about 25 percent of women with these symptoms underwent specific tests to diagnose ovarian cancer in a timely manner. Ovarian cancer often comes to the attention of doctors only in its late stages, when the likelihood of successful treatment is low. Its reputation as a silent killer is only bolstered by its deadly pattern of attack. It is a fast growing tumor, progressing from early to advanced disease in as short as a one year period. The researchers said there has been increasing evidence indicating patients may exhibit symptoms many months before advanced disease and diagnosis occurs.
The researchers, led by Lloyd H. Smith from the Davis Medical Center, performed the study by comparing diagnosis codes and claims for diagnostic procedures among several thousand women. As early as 12 months before diagnosis, women with ovarian cancer were at least twice as likely to present to a physician with abdominal swelling or pelvic pain. Overall, about 40 percent of the women had visited the doctor for abdominal or pelvic symptoms between 36 and 4 months before their ovarian cancer was diagnosed.
But only 25 percent of ovarian cancer patients had diagnostic pelvic imaging or CA125 serum tests during the period from 36 to 4 months before diagnosis. Most received abdominal imaging or diagnostic gastrointestinal studies, which would be less likely to help with the correct diagnosis. "Our findings suggest that ovarian cancer could be diagnosed earlier in some patients whose diagnosis is currently delayed by at least 4 months because physicians order abdominal imaging or perform gastrointestinal procedures before they order a test more likely to diagnose ovarian cancer," concluded the researchers.
