Ovarian Cancer Screening Fails to Save Lives

Ovarian cancer, like breast cancer, is among the leading cancers that kill women in this country. It is especially troublesome because it is usually not discovered until it is in an advanced stage that may not respond well to treatment. Investigators have been trying to develop a screening strategy that would help doctors find ovarian cancer earlier, in the hopes that would make it more treatable.
Those hopes were dashed by a study that reviewed ovarian cancer screening in nearly 80,000 women. Over the 13 years of the study, the women who were screened died from ovarian cancer at the same rate as the women randomized to usual care. They did suffer side effects of the screening, however, and the researchers concluded that ovarian cancer screening does more harm than good.
[Journal of the American Medical Association, June 8, 2011]