Accessible genetic risk testing a positive advance in bid to identify ovarian cancer early
Historically, ovarian cancer is challenging to identify because symptoms such as bloating, loss of appetite and feeling full can be associated with other less serious health issues.
However, BRCA 1 and 2 gene mutations which can indicate a woman's higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, were identified as long ago as 1994 and, by the end of 1996, private testing became available for the BRCA gene mutation.
In 2004, NICE Guidelines recommended genetic counselling for women deemed to be at risk of having the BRCA gene mutation and in late 2007, specialist cancer hospital The Royal Marsden published a protocol that required all high-risk women to be referred for genetic counselling.
Despite all this, ovarian cancer remains the sixth most common cancer in the UK, with around 7,500 new cases annually. Most cases of ovarian cancer cases are still discovered only once the disease is advanced, meaning treatment options are limited and outcomes less positive.
The good news is that pioneer technological combining lab automation and custom software has developed simple to use saliva test kits to identify genetic risks of these cancers to use at home and are easier to access and increasingly less expensive.
Private health care provider Bupa for example recently announced it will offer a test later this year that generates genetic risk scores to help early detection of several cancers and cardiovascular disease as an optional add on to customers over 40.
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), which has played a key role in ovarian cancer research for decades, continues to focus on tackling ovarian cancer’s specific challenges by developing new drugs tailored to the different types of ovarian cancer combined with evolutionary steering that works to predict and influence how cancer cells will adapt.
Meanwhile, the tireless work of charities such as Target Ovarian Cancer and Ovarian Cancer Action plus other UK gynae charities highlight ovarian cancer particularly during March, designated as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
The aim is quite simply to raise awareness of the symptoms of the disease to encourage women to seek advice from their doctors early. This campaign of course relies on doctors and other health care workers to react accordingly to ensure guidelines and protocols are followed so that women are reliably diagnosed and offered treatment quickly. This is the only way to reduce the impact of this terrible disease.
You can find more information on claims involving misdiagnosis of ovarian cancer here and read case studies of delayed diagnosis of other cancers and health issues.
Read my colleague Helen Thompson's case on behalf of a client wrongly treated at the Royal Marsden.
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