Ovarian Cancer Update

28 de septiembre de 2021

3 min de lectura

Ovarian cancer is a serious condition that affects tens of thousands of women in the United States each year; it is also the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women, according to the American Cancer Society. Years ago, women with ovarian cancer faced grim mortality rates. Fortunately, advances in ovarian cancer research, prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment are helping to save thousands of lives each year.

What’s New in Ovarian Cancer Care?

Research

Scientists are continuing their research into how genes may be responsible for familial ovarian cancer, which is cancer that is inherited. Their research is shedding light on how these genes normally function, and how disrupting the action of these genes could lead to cancer. The American Cancer Society expects the information to lead to the development of new drugs that can prevent or treat familial ovarian cancer.

Prevention

Two specific genes, BRCA1 (BReast CAncer gene 1) and BRCA2 (BReast CAncer gene 2), produce proteins that help repair damaged DNA. Doctors often refer to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes as tumor suppressor genes because when changes occur to the two genes, cancer can develop. People who inherit variations in these genes have an increased risk of cancer, most notably breast and ovarian cancer. Modern saliva or blood testing can detect mutations in these genes.

Women who have changes in these genes and a strong family history may be able to prevent ovarian cancer by having their ovaries or fallopian tubes removed. Researchers are investigating any lifestyle, diet, and medicines that may alter the risk of ovarian cancer.

Early detection

Early detection leads to early treatment, which can have a significant effect on a successful outcome. Researchers are looking into new methods to screen female patients for ovarian cancer. Scientists are testing the effectiveness of using proteomics, or patterns of protein in the blood, to find ovarian cancer early.

Imaging

Doctors are increasingly using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to create images of ovarian cancers. Researchers are also investigating the use of PET/CT scans for the detection of ovarian cancer.

Diagnosis

Doctors can now use blood tests to determine if a woman’s tumor is low risk (not likely to be cancer) or high risk (very likely to be cancer).

Treatment

Researchers continually check the effectiveness of currently available treatment methods as they develop novel approaches to ovarian cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy

Scientists are testing new chemotherapy drugs to treat ovarian cancer. Researchers recently published a study that shows the drug rucaparib is effective in treating some types of ovarian cancers, for example. They are also looking into ways to make cancer more sensitive to conventional ovarian cancer drugs.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy is a newer type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack ovarian cancer cells while sparing normal cells. While each type of targeted therapy works differently, they all attack the programming that makes cancer cells different from normal, healthy cells.

Genetic therapies

Certain drugs, such as cisplatin and carboplatin, may work well for ovarian cancers caused by the BRCA 1 mutation. New research shows that microRNA, very small pieces of RNA can also lower levels of BRCA1 mutations.

While ovarian cancer is often a devastating diagnosis, advances in medical science are improving treatment outcomes. Researchers hope that, someday soon, ovarian cancer will be a thing of the past.

Sources

Información general, no consejo médico

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