Immune signatures in the blood may flag if someone has ovarian cancer up to four years earlier than conventional methods used to diagnose the disease, new research suggests.
Unfortunately, most patients are not diagnosed with HGOC until the cancer is at an advanced stage, meaning it has spread to somewhere else in the body. In these cases, the five-year survival rate may be as low as 31%. One reason for this is that HGOC doesn't have specific symptoms in the early stages of the disease.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.In the study, researchers discovered a blood-based immune biomarker that they say could be used to detect HGOC up to four years before most cases are currently diagnosed. These signals could be detected two to four years before diagnosis and show that the immune system is actively fighting the disease, the study authors said.