Arizona State University Researchers’ Efforts to Develop a Method for the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the cause of death for 125,000 women worldwide each year. In the United States, about 15,000 women die each year after suffering from ovarian cancer. One reason for the high death rate is because it is difficult to detect. Often when the cancer is diagnosed it has already progressed to an advanced stage.

Researchers at Arizona State University are conducting research on biomarkers that may help to show the presence of ovarian cancer before the women experiences any symptoms. The research so far has identified three autoantibodies that may indicate the likelihood that a woman has ovarian cancer. The research has been published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Karen S. Anderson is an associate professor in the BioDesign Institute at Arizona State University and the lead of the study. She states that “early detection of ovarian cancer is critical for survival. Right now, most ovarian cancers are caught in late stages, after it has spread in the abdomen. The immune response to the cancer, as measured by the autoantibodies, may be detected even before clinical diagnosis.”

Dr. Anderson holds a medical degree and a Ph.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine. Additional research, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is being conducted to validate the results.

The research, “Autoantibody Signature for the Serologic Detection of Ovarian Cancer,” may be accessed here.