Gynecology Question:

To qualify as a screening test, the test has to be sensitive enough to pick up the disease in its early stages. It has to be specific, so other conditions do not trigger the test to be positive. It has to be cost efficient, so that trying to find the disease does not cost more than the treatment of the disease. Unfortunately, no such test is available for ovarian cancer currently. CA-125, an ovarian cancer antigen, was thought to be a possible screening tool. CA-125 is elevated in women with a known ovarian cancer, and is used to monitor progression or regression of the tumor. It is not sensitive enough to pick up ovarian cancer at Stage I disease, and can be positive in non-cancerous conditions like endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and fibroids.