| 10 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago Breakthrough in fight against ovarian cancer
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(NECN/KOMO) - A new study announced at Fred Hutchinson boosts early detection of ovarian cancer, a cancer that is often discovered too late.
Marsha Rivkin's mom had it and by the time she discovered she had it too, it was too late. Rivkin died of ovarian cancer, leaving behind five daughters, who now get tested every year.
Dr. Robin Andersen says when women get ovarian cancer, it is frequently a bad diagnosis, often it is found too late and when it is found, late chances of a cure are poor.
Andersen says in half the cases, a simple blood test alone misses early detection or gives a false positive.
But, in a new study of high risk women, Andersen says combining the blood test with a questionnaire of symptoms identified 80% of early stage tumors.
Women were asked if they recently started suffering frequent abdominal or pelvic pain, abdominal bloating or increased abdomen size. Are they unable to eat normally or feel full quickly?
If you have a family history of breast and ovarian cancer and you're frequently suffering symptoms, researchers say you need to get tested. It could be a cyst or fibroids, but early detection of ovarian cancer could save your life.
Reporter Elisa Jaffe KOMO takes a closer look.
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