B.C. researchers seek screening test for ovarian cancer

Researchers at the B.C. Cancer Agency are looking for a way to detect and screen for ovarian cancer — one of the deadliest forms of cancer in women.

Dr. Anna Tinker, a medical oncologist, is leading the study and told The Early Edition there are no effective screening tests available for ovarian cancer.

"People have certainly tried using things like ultrasound and blood tests to find cancer at its earliest stages, but those tests aren't sensitive enough to find the disease at the smallest possible size and before it spreads."

The biggest challenge with ovarian cancer is that it can spread quite widely within the abdominal cavity early on in development, she said. By the time a woman develop symptoms, the cancer is quite advanced.

Tinker said while surgery and treatments exist, the cancer tends to return.

"We can manage their disease, but often they succumb to the disease ultimately."

'Test has to be simple'

Tinker's group has designed a test that uses molecular technology they hope can detect cancer cells at the earliest stages.

"We believe that cancer cells that develop very early might be shed down into the vagina allowing us a window of opportunity to potentially detect these early cells before they spread," she explained.

Volunteers — some of whom have cancer — will self-administer a vaginal swab to collect cells which will be tested by her team.

"[The test] has to be simple," she explained, in order to make it widely available.

The next step in their research will be making sure the test can correctly detect cancer cells. Then, the team will move on to whether the test can be used in very early detection.

Ovarian cancer affects about 1 in 70 women in Canada, but the risk increases with age and a family history of the disease.

With files from The Early Edition

To hear the interview, click on the link labelled Researchers seek early-detection method for ovarian cancer