The search for a specific protein that could help diagnose ovarian cancer in its early stages has for years eluded researchers who are seeking a reliable and accurate test for the disease.
Instead of searching for a single protein, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine used a new technology to analyze a large number of proteins, or potential biomarkers, from a very small sample of serum from women with ovarian cancer. They identified a combination of several biomarkers that could help detect the disease much earlier than it is currently being diagnosed, according to findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April 1 to 5 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
"One of the most challenging problems with ovarian cancer is that we lack a reliable and accurate test that can detect it early when it is most responsive to treatment," said Anna E. Lokshin, Ph.D., lead investigator and assistant professor of medicine and pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "By the time women are diagnosed, their cancers have already spread and are extremely difficult to treat successfully. To improve the long-term outcome for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, we sought to identify a panel of proteins that could signify the presence of early disease."