Ovarian cancer screening test in development

A SCREENING test being ­developed by Melbourne scientists aims to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages, in order to ­improve the dismal survival rates of the deadly disease.

A SCREENING test being ­developed by Melbourne scientists aims to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages to ­improve survival rates.

There are no early detection tests for the cancer, which claims the lives of almost 1000 women a year, so many women are diagnosed when the tumours have spread, ­making it harder to treat.

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Hudson Institute of Medical Research scientists are developing a screening tool they hope will replicate the success of screening programs, such as mammograms and Pap smears for breast and cervical cancer.

The early detection test will be trialled in Victorian women next year who have a high risk of developing ovarian cancer.

Dr Andrew Stephens from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and his team are developing an early detection test for ovarian cancer. Picture: Supplied

It works by detecting several proteins secreted by the tumours to help them hide from the body.

Dr Andrew Stephens said ovarian cancer had the highest mortality rate for all gynaecological cancers. The five-year survival rate is 44 per cent.

“In addition to better therapies we also need better ways to diagnose and detect these cancers early and so one of the major aims of what we are trying to do is to develop a testing regime that we can use to actually screen for the presence of disease,” Dr Stephens said.

“The ultimate goal is to have a screening program that can detect disease in the absence of any symptoms, which allows for earlier treatment and gives women the best chance of survival.”

With funding from the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Dr Stephens and his team have made significant headway understanding high-grade serous ovarian cancers, which are the most commonly diagnosed and account for the vast majority of deaths.

Four Australian women are diagnosed each day with ovarian cancer.

The team has developed a diagnostic tool that tests for several protein markers the tumour produces, which aren’t found in healthy tissues.

“We’ve done some preliminary testing of these, which have been quite successful,” he said.

“We have been able to detect early stage disease where the cancer is still confined to the ovary.”

Vital to this research was access to the ovarian tissue bank, containing 2200 samples donated by women.

The next stage, beginning in 2018, will investigate whether it can pick up the disease in a group of high risk Victorian women.

Lucinda Nolan, CEO of OCRF said projects like this were bringing the possibility of eradicating the terrible disease through early detection and personalised treatment one step closer.

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