A Urine Test for Ovarian Cancer?
Monday January 26, 2009
We've gone round and round on the relative major inaccuracies of CA-125 blood tests to detect ovarian cancer. There are a number of research avenues that are being investigated to improve early detection, and this is one of them.
Researchers at the University of South Florida have just reported their results on a protein, called Bcl-2, which can be picked up by a urine test. Bcl-2 is something called an "anti-apoptotic" protein, which can be found in many cancers, but they investigated it by testing healthy women, women with benign non-cancerous gynecologic conditions, and in women with early or advanced ovarian cancer. In many cases, they compared the result with a CA-125 blood test level.
Women who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, regardless of stage, had a significantly elevated level of Bcl-2 in the urine compared to women who had either no disease or benign conditions. Furthermore, the levels roughly correlated with CA-125 elevation. Is this THE answer? Probably not....or at least not the only answer. However, it is a step in the right direction towards effective screening.
Researchers at the University of South Florida have just reported their results on a protein, called Bcl-2, which can be picked up by a urine test. Bcl-2 is something called an "anti-apoptotic" protein, which can be found in many cancers, but they investigated it by testing healthy women, women with benign non-cancerous gynecologic conditions, and in women with early or advanced ovarian cancer. In many cases, they compared the result with a CA-125 blood test level.
Women who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, regardless of stage, had a significantly elevated level of Bcl-2 in the urine compared to women who had either no disease or benign conditions. Furthermore, the levels roughly correlated with CA-125 elevation. Is this THE answer? Probably not....or at least not the only answer. However, it is a step in the right direction towards effective screening.