Multiphasic cancer screening plays the key role in both life prolongation and preventive medicine. Ovarian cancer screening is of particular important because the ability to detect early stage tumors is easily available and could save the lives of innumerable women.

Ovarian cancer is cancer that begins in the cells that constitute the ovaries, including surface epithelial cells, germ cells, and the sex cord-stromal cells. Cancer cells that metastasize from other organ sites to the ovary (most commonly breast or colon cancers) are not then considered ovarian cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer accounts for 4 percent of all cancers among women and ranks fifth as a cause of their deaths from cancer. The American Cancer Society statistics for ovarian cancer estimate that there will be 25,580 new cases and 16,090 deaths in 2004. The death rate for this disease has not changed much in the last 50 year.

Unfortunately, almost 70 percent of women with the common epithelial ovarian cancer are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced in stage—i.e., has spread to the upper abdomen (stage III) or beyond (stage IV). The 5-year survival rate for these women is only 15 to 20 percent, whereas the 5-year survival rate for stage I disease patients approaches 90 percent and for stage II disease patients approaches 70 percent.

There are many types of tumors that can start in the ovaries. Some are benign, or noncancerous, and the patient can be cured by surgically removing one ovary or the part of the ovary containing the tumor. Some are malignant or cancerous. The treatment options and the outcome for the patient depend on the type of ovarian cancer and how far it has spread before it is diagnosed.

(Excerpt from: National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. 2001)
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