New diagnostic test for ovarian cancer devised

A new test for ovarian cancer has shown the potential to aid the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

International researchers led by Imperial College London and KU Leuven have developed a new test called ADNEX that is capable of discriminating between benign and malignant tumours, while also identifying different tumour types with a high level of accuracy.

The test is based on the patient's clinical information, a simple tumour marker blood test and features that can be identified on an ultrasound scan, providing a percentage that shows the confidence of the diagnosis.

It was developed using data from 3,506 patients from ten European countries from 1999 to 2007, and has been tested on a further 2,403 patients.

Professor Tom Bourne, from the department of surgery and cancer at Imperial College London, said: "This new approach to classifying ovarian tumours can help doctors make the right management decisions, which will improve the outcome for women with cancer."

Cancer of the ovary affects more than 6,500 women in the UK each year, making it the fifth most common form of the disease in females.