▲ Research results have shown that OvaPrint, a new blood test, detects early-stage ovarian cancer with 91% accuracy. (Photo = DB)
[메디컬투데이=최재백 기자] The blood test OvaPrint has been shown to detect early-stage ovarian cancer with over 90% accuracy.
Research results showing that OvaPrint, a new blood test, detected early-stage ovarian cancer with 91% accuracy were published in the academic journal ‘Clinical Cancer Research’.
According to 2020 data, ovarian cancer is the third most common gynecological cancer worldwide. The most common type of ovarian cancer, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (75%), has an estimated 10-year survival rate of approximately 55% if detected early. However, there is currently no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer, so it is usually detected at an advanced stage and the 10-year survival rate is only 15%.
The early symptoms of ovarian cancer, such as abdominal distension, abdominal pain, and frequent urination, are common during normal menstrual cycles, urinary tract infections, or irritable bowel syndrome, so ovarian cancer is often diagnosed as another disease until symptoms worsen. Additionally, anatomically, the ovaries are located deep in the abdominal cavity, making it difficult to detect tumors during a pelvic examination.
Accordingly, a research team at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California is developing a new blood test to diagnose ovarian cancer in the early stages, and is currently able to determine whether a pelvic mass is malignant or benign with an accuracy of 91%. It was reported that they succeeded in distinguishing.
OvaPrint, developed by the research team, helps diagnose various types of early ovarian cancer, including the most common and fatal high-grade serous ovarian cancer, and determines whether a pelvic mass is malignant.
OvaPrint uses cell-free DNA methylation liquid biopsies to detect cell-free DNA, small pieces of DNA shed from tumor cells into the blood. Methylation is a complex reaction that regulates DNA in cells and is often used as a diagnostic biomarker because it can change gene expression in the body.
OvaPrint detects DNA methylated by specific nucleic acids in cell-free DNA.
The research team evaluated OvaPrint on 370 tissue and blood samples from early-stage ovarian cancer, benign pelvic tumors, and normal ovaries, and reported that OvaPrint distinguished between ovarian cancer and benign pelvic tumors with 91% accuracy.
Furthermore, they are planning a follow-up study targeting hundreds of patients, and if the efficacy of OvaPrint is proven in the subsequent study results, they plan to release it for clinical use within two years.
Experts praised OvaPrint’s accuracy, saying the technology to identify cell-free DNA originating from malignant tumors makes the test more sensitive than traditional tumor markers such as CA125.
Meanwhile, given that it is still early research data, additional clinical trials and high-quality observational data from a large sample group are needed to prove the efficacy and safety of OvaPrint, he added.
Medical Today Reporter Jaebaek Choi (jaebaekchoi@naver.com)
[저작권자ⓒ 메디컬투데이. 무단전재-재배포 금지]
2023-10-18 07:24:49
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