ONS Connect - June 2008 - (Page 25)

NEWTREATMENTS,NEWHOPE Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer May Be 99% Accurate [By Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON ®, Contributing Editor] According to researchers, the new test may have a major impact on the high death rates from ovarian cancer and will become the standard of care for women having routine examinations. Y ale researchers have developed a blood test that can detect earlystage ovarian cancer with 99% accuracy. The test builds on earlier work done by the same researchers in 2005, which showed 95% accurate blood test that looked at four proteins. The new test looks at six protein biomarkers using a new technique called multiplex technology, which simplifies the test into a single reaction using a very small amount of serum from the blood. The proteins are produced by the body in response to the presence of the tumor as well as the proteins the tumor produces. The clinical trials included 500 patients: 350 healthy controls and 150 patients with ovarian cancer. The researchers looked for the presence of specific proteins and quantified the concentration of those proteins in the blood. Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer deaths in the United States and is three times more deadly than breast cancer. It is usually not diagnosed until its advanced stages because many times women with ovarian cancer have no symptoms or only mild symptoms until the disease is in an advanced stage and hard to treat. It has come to be known as the “silent killer.” Earlier tests used only proteins from the tumors to test for ovarian cancer, which identifies the cancer only if there are large masses of tumors. Previous tests were not effective at detecting tumors in early stages, recognizing only 15%–20% of new tumors. The new test is the most sensitive and specific test currently available. Testing the proteins produced by the body in response to the presence of the tumor as well as the proteins the tumors produced help to detect early-stage ovarian cancer. According to the researchers, the new test may have a major impact on the high death rates from ovarian cancer and will become the standard of care for women having routine examinations. A phase III evaluation in a multicenter clinical trial involving more than 2,000 patients currently is under way. ✱ Visintin, I., Feng, Z., Longton, G., Ward, D.C., Alvero, A.B., Lai, Y., et al. (2008). Diagnostic markers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 14(4), 1065–1072. Contributing Editor Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON ®, is a nurse at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and a faculty member at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland, CA. June 2008 ONS CONNECT 25

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ONS Connect - June 2008 Contents Editor's Note Just In They Have a Dream A Year in the Life—Month Six Web Connect Capitol Connection Notice Nursing Now Caregiver Care Manage Skin Toxicities Associated With EGFR Inhibitors Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer May Be 99 Percent Accurate Calendar of Events Working For You Staying On Top

ONS Connect - June 2008

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