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Home » MANY GENE-BASED OVARIAN CANCER TESTS NOT PROVEN EFFECTIVE
MANY GENE-BASED OVARIAN CANCER TESTS NOT PROVEN EFFECTIVE
A new report says that many genomic tests currently used to diagnose and guide treatment of ovarian cancer have not been shown to decrease the number of deaths from the disease or improve patients' quality of life, HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) said Oct. 16.
"Because current strategies have not proven to be effective, there is tremendous interest in identifying the disease in its earliest stages by looking at genes, gene expression levels, proteins and tumor markers," AHRQ said.
These tests focus on detecting a gene-based tumor marker, such as CA-125, identifying genetic mutations such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 that indicate increased risk for developing cancer, or identifying genetic changes that predict response to therapy in women with ovarian cancer.
A computer simulation model developed by the research team suggests that screening, even with the highly accurate tests, will not result in large reductions in deaths from ovarian cancer unless testing is very frequent -- meaning less than one year between tests, AHRQ said. "However, such frequent screening would also yield a large number of false-positive test results."
The report was the result of a partnership between AHRQ and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and that agency's National Office of Public Health Genomics. Copies of the report are available through the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov (mailto:ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov) or by calling (800) 358-9295.
KEYWORDS FDAnews Device Daily Bulletin
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