Researchers have found a molecular signal in the blood that points to the microscopic changes that come before ovarian cancer, a potential step towards earlier detection of a disease that is often caught only after it has spread.
The study was published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Medicine. It was led by Rajan Gogna of the Hoag Family Cancer Institute in Newport Beach, California.
Ovarian cancer often begins with microscopic changes in the lining of the fallopian tubes. These precancerous lesions are known as serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma, or STIC.
The study found that women with this condition have raised blood levels of an RNA molecule called Tu-Stroma. Measuring it in blood detected STIC in 92.3% of affected women and correctly identified 98.2% of healthy women.
In women with an inherited risk of ovarian cancer, about 72% of positive results would be accurate, while negative results would be right nearly every time, the researchers said.
“We asked a fundamentally different question: What if we could identify the earliest molecular warning signs before invasive cancer even develops?” Gogna said in a statement.
Many high-risk women face hard decisions about preventive surgery to remove their fallopian tubes and ovaries. Co-author Dr Esha Madan said such decisions are now guided largely by inherited risk, without knowing whether precancerous lesions are actually present.
The test is still at the research stage. The researchers did not say when or how it might become available for routine use.
