Does checking for ovarian cancer every year save lives?
Mortality impact, risks, and benefits of general population screening for ovarian cancer: the UKCTOCS randomised controlled trial.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Multimodal screening reduced late-stage cancers by 10.2%, yet mortality didn’t drop.
It’s widely believed that catching cancer before it spreads should reduce deaths—this study proves that’s not always true, especially for ovarian cancer.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an average-risk woman over 50, don’t request ovarian cancer screening with CA125 or ultrasound—ask your doctor about symptoms instead.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Multimodal screening reduced late-stage cancers by 10.2%, yet mortality didn’t drop.
It’s widely believed that catching cancer before it spreads should reduce deaths—this study proves that’s not always true, especially for ovarian cancer.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an average-risk woman over 50, don’t request ovarian cancer screening with CA125 or ultrasound—ask your doctor about symptoms instead.
Publication
Journal
Health technology assessment
Year
2023
Authors
U. Menon, A. Gentry-Maharaj, M. Burnell, A. Ryan, Jatinderpal K Kalsi, N. Singh, A. Dawnay, L. Fallowfield, A. McGuire, S. Campbell, S. Skates, Mahesh K B Parmar, I. Jacobs
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Claims (7)
Finding and treating very slow-growing cancers through aggressive screening doesn’t help people live longer overall — it just finds cancers that wouldn’t have hurt them anyway.
No solid scientific studies have shown that getting a full-body MRI scan when you feel fine helps you live longer.
When doctors use both a blood test and an ultrasound to check for ovarian cancer, fewer women end up having unnecessary surgeries compared to using just the ultrasound — so the combo method is safer in that way.
Getting yearly blood tests and ultrasounds for women over 50 might catch more ovarian cancers early, but it doesn’t help them live longer, even after 16 years.
Testing healthy older women for ovarian cancer with blood tests or ultrasounds doesn’t save lives and often leads to risky surgeries that aren’t needed — so it’s not worth doing.