Women with an inherited risk of ovarian cancer could get diagnosis breaktrhough

NEW ovarian cancer surveillance test for women with an inherited risk of the disease could be rolled out across the UK after an NHS trust has become the first in England to offer it.

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Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations are known to be at significantly higher risk of developing ovarian cancer as well as breast cancer

Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations are known to be at significantly higher risk of developing ovarian cancer as well as breast cancer.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) will now offer an ovarian screening service to these women, and other hospitals are expected to follow.

Current NHS guidelines say women with BRCA gene mutations should have surgery to remove their ovaries and fallopian tubes, but this means women go through early menopause if they are pre-menopausal, and also cannot have children in the future.

Some women choose to delay surgery because they wish to complete their families or do not want to go through early menopause.

The new test is called risk of ovarian cancer algorithm (Roca), which calculates a woman's individual risk of developing ovarian cancer based on several factors.

These include blood levels of the protein cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) over time, age, menopausal status and the presence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene alterations.

Having the Roca blood test every four months has been shown to dramatically cut the chance of being diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer, which often has no or few symptoms.