Ovarian cancer is not usually easily diagnosed at an early stage; however, with the ovarian cancer blood test, ovarian cancer can now be detected early which most tests cannot do. Ovarian cancer blood test is made to help more women have their health checked as early as possible for possible ovarian cancer. This would help decrease the ovarian cancer mortalities in the hope of treating ovarian cancer at an early stage.
Ovarian cancer has been the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality among women in the United States. Even if this type of cancer has been less common compared to other forms of cancer, this type of cancer is also less diagnosed because when ovarian cancer is discovered, it already has spread into the nearby organs.
With the ovarian cancer blood test available, many women can now check if they have ovarian cancer at an early stage where a treatment would possibly lead to the cure of the disease.
However, how effective is this blood test? This ovarian cancer blood test has been improved over the years to have the 99.4% specificity. Meaning, with the use of this blood test, there would be lesser false-positive results. In a test done with 95% accuracy, in every 100,000 woman tested, only 5,000 would have false positive results compared to the 99.4%; it would be much lesser.
CA 125 blood test is one of the ovarian cancer blood test that can be done to people who are at high risk of cancer. Cancer Antigen 125 is a substance produced at the fallopian tubes, in the uterus, lining of the chest or abdominal cavities or at the cervix.
A test of CA 125 is used to test the sugar and protein that may be released when the cells becomes damaged or even inflamed. This can be measured through blood tests or by obtaining fluid from the chest cavity or the abdominal cavity. A CA 125 level of 35kU/ml is still normal. This can be used to detect ovarian cancer because the ovarian cancer cells may produce these protein molecules in excess; and an elevated CA 125 may indicate a benign activity.
However, it may not be related with cancer. This test, however, is not reliable because of the poor results but can be used in detecting cancer and would need other tests to confirm an ovarian cancer diagnosis.
Ovarian cancer blood test, alone, may help in early detection of cancer for about 60%; however, with the combination of other cancer detecting procedures, it is 20% more effective in diagnosing cancer at an earlier stage.
The blood test can be done and when a positive result comes out, you may need to ask for a second opinion and have other tests done like ultrasonography and pelvic exams may be very helpful to really conclude the ovarian cancer diagnosis.
This is what women should always remember; it is very important to have an annual gynecologic exam rather than have a blood test alone. This would be very helpful for you to monitor changes in your gynecologic health. This may also help in the early detection of possible occurrence of an ovarian cancer rather than depending on the ovarian cancer blood test alone. This way you will have high chances of being cured in case cancer is detected at a very early stage where treatment is still very possible.
