Women often spot ovarian cancer signs early

Many women with ovarian cancer complained of symptoms up to a year before diagnosis, but their doctors did not order the right tests for the fast-growing tumor until later, researchers said Monday.

Elderly women with ovarian cancer were at least twice as likely to visit a doctor and report symptoms such as abdominal swelling or pelvic pain, Dr. Lloyd Smith of the University of California at Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento and colleagues reported in Monday’s issue of the journal Cancer.

“Our findings suggest that ovarian cancer could be diagnosed earlier in some patients,” Smith said in a statement.

For their study they looked at the claims records of 1,985 elderly women with ovarian cancer, 6,024 elderly women with breast cancer, and 10,941 Medicare-enrolled women of the same age without cancer.

They compared diagnosis codes — which doctors write down when making insurance or Medicare claims — and claims for diagnostic procedures.

Fast-growing tumors
They found about 40 percent of the women had physician claims indicating one or more visits for abdominal or pelvic symptoms before their ovarian cancer was diagnosed.

While abdominal pain and swelling are not always symptoms of ovarian cancer, the disease is especially deadly because it usually is diagnosed after it has spread.

And it is a tumor that grows quickly, progressing from early to advanced stages in as little time as a year, so speedy diagnosis is key.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

This year, more than 22,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and more than 16,000 will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society, which publishes Cancer.

It can be diagnosed with pelvic imaging, or a blood test for a protein called CA-125, although neither of these tests will detect all cases of ovarian cancer.

The CA-125 test catches about half of early, Stage I ovarian cancers and is inadequate when used alone to diagnose early ovarian cancer. For patients with later, Stage II, III or IV disease, the test is 80 percent accurate in detecting cancer.

Another 20 percent of ovarian cancer patients never have increased CA-125.

Only 25 percent of the ovarian cancer patients had pelvic imaging or CA-125 tests between three years and four months before diagnosis, Smith’s team found.