Blood marker may reveal early ovarian cancer risk, study finds
Researchers have identified a blood-based molecular signal that may reveal the earliest biological changes leading to ovarian cancer, before an invasive tumour develops. The study, published in Nature Medicine, focuses on serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), a precancerous lesion that often arises in the lining of the fallopian tubes and is believed to precede many cases of ovarian cancer.
Women with STIC were found to have elevated blood levels of an RNA molecule called Tu-Stroma. Measuring the molecule detected 92.3% of women with the precancerous condition and correctly identified 98.2% of healthy women as unaffected. Among women with inherited risk factors for ovarian cancer, about 72% of positive results were accurate, while a negative result was correct nearly 100% of the time.
The findings could eventually help doctors assess whether high-risk patients actually have precancerous lesions, rather than relying mainly on genetic risk when discussing preventive surgery to remove the fallopian tubes and ovaries. Study leader Rajan Gogna of the Hoag Family Cancer Institute in Newport Beach, California, said the approach shifts attention from finding increasingly smaller tumours to detecting molecular warning signs before invasive cancer exists. Co-author Dr Esha Madan said such information could give high-risk women and their doctors a more direct basis for prevention decisions.
Continue in the app — vote & join in ➔