Researchers Seek To Develop Test For Women's Deadliest Cancer.(ovarian cancer test is being developed)

2001 NOV 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Marysol Rojas' mission is to teach women to talk with each other about cancer, especially cancer that attacks their ovaries, the deadliest women's cancer. That's why she volunteered for a study at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, where researchers are developing a test for ovarian cancer.

"If some of my relatives had only known what was happening to other women in the family, they could have gotten help earlier and perhaps saved their lives," said Rojas, who is 32. Besides her mother, who first had breast cancer and later cervical and colon cancer, other relatives with genetically related cancers include her grandmother, two sisters, an aunt and a cousin.

Rojas learned about UT Southwestern's ovarian cancer research through the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, where she works as an auditor, a job she believes helps in her effort to "get the word out to educate women about cancer."

The portion of the study in Dallas is headed by Dr. John O. Schorge, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Dr. Gail Tomlinson, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Familial Cancer Registry at UT Southwestern. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Genetics Network, the study is being offered in two other Texas cities, San Antonio and Houston and in a total of 16 medical centers across the country. It is aimed at determining whether a blood test, called CA125 (cancer 125), will work as a predictor of ovarian cancer in women who are at increased risk because of their family history of breast or ovarian cancer (or both).

Participants fill out a questionnaire on their family history and will give blood tests at three-month intervals. Preliminary research suggests that checking CA125 levels over time may uncover a trend toward the development of cancer. If CA125 levels go up, then participants may undergo ultrasound of the ovaries.

"By following the patients for two years, we hope to detect the presence of ovarian cancer before it begins to grow," Schorge said.

He said participants in the study, who must not be pregnant nor become ...