Identifying Ovarian Cancer with Proteomics

After getting a pelvic ultrasound this morning and the subsequent paranoia that I have, I did some surfing to read more about ovaries and ovary size, etc. I ran across a website, OvaryResearch.com and found this very promising information that is new to me. It is especially promising because pelvic ultrasounds are not very good screening tools anyway. 

A study in 2002 found that the use of proteomic patterns in serum (identifying a pattern of proteins) may help identify ovarian cancer. I wonder why this is the first time I am reading about it and think I will need to do more research to find why this hasn't become a standard screening methodology. The results of the 20o2 study were able to screen 100% of ovarian cancer carriers and correctly screened 95% of non-ovarian cancer carriers. So what happened to this promising method for screening??

Another Punch to the Ovaries

Alright, already, I didn't realize there was so much literature out there about the benefits of oophorectomy for BRCA1/2 carriers. Am I running across this more and more as a sign that I need to hurry up and get this one over with??? The latest article has an innocuous-enough sounding headline, "Surgery can lower cancer risk in high-risk brca1/2 carriers".  I should have guessed it would be advocating for ovary-removal. Sigh.

More reason to oophorectomy -- Ooooph

Medical News: Salpingo-Oophorectomy Produces Significant Reduction in BRCA Breast Cancer Risk - in Hematology/Oncology, Breast Cancer from MedPage Today

FORCE Hereditary Cancer Conference

I will try to attend this conference if finances allow:

Join us May 14 – 16, 2009 in Orlando, Florida for the 4^th annual Joining FORCEs Conference! The Joining FORCEs conference is an annual forum on hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. We welcome anyone concerned about hereditary cancer: cancer survivors, high-risk individuals, previvors, peo­ple with a BRCA mutation or family history of cancer, and health care providers who treat high-risk patients. For more information visit:

http://www.facingourrisk.org/annual_conference/index.html

Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trial

To bring up with my oncologist in January, but there is at least one criteria that I may not meet:

Phase II Randomized Study of Levonorgestrel in Patients at High Risk for Ovarian Cancer (Levonorgestrel in Preventing Ovarian Cancer in Patients at High Risk for Ovarian Cancer)

http://www.cancer.gov/search/ViewClinicalTrials.aspx?cdrid=532268&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=4876012

Another to bring up:
National Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Program Blood and Genetics (NCT00531778)
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00531778?term=NCT00531778&rank=1