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Screening Approach Finds Early- and Late-Stage Ovarian Cancers—And False PositivesA new study has found that screening for ovarian cancer using transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) or testing for a bioprotein marker called CA-125 can accurately detect ovarian cancer, but the tests also have a high false-positive rate.
The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial screened 28,816 healthy women for ovarian cancer using TVU and CA-125 in an attempt to find out if such screening tests could decrease ovarian cancer mortality in women aged 55–74 years. The results, published in the November 15 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, were based on the participants’ initial screening test. Results showed predictive values—the likelihood that a person with a positive screening test actually has cancer—of 3.7% for an abnormal CA-125 test, 1% for an abnormal TVU test, and 23.5% if both tests were abnormal.
The PLCO will continue to collect data until 2008. "TVU and CA-125 cannot currently be recommended for widespread use in the general population," lead author Saundra Buys, M.D., of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, said in a statement. "Future results from the additional PLCO screenings and subsequent follow-up will be needed before a final assessment of this screening strategy can be made."
Study Examines EGFR Mutations in Glioblastoma
Researchers have found a possible reason why some brain tumors respond to treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibitors and others do not.
EGFR plays a role in tumor formation and growth of glioblastomas. Some glioblastoma patients have been successfully treated with EGFR kinase inhibitors, but researchers are not sure exactly how such treatments worked and why they were effective only in a certain subset of patients.
Paul Mischel, M.D., and colleagues at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles studied the effect of EGFR kinase inhibitors on 49 glioblastoma patients. Experiments showed that people whose tumors contained a specific mutation of EGFR that activates the PI3K signaling pathway and expressed a protein called PTEN showed increased responsiveness to the treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib or erlotinib. The study was published in the November 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Study Examines Esophageal Cancer Risk and NSAID Use in Barrett Esophagus
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin may be associated with a decreased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma in patients with Barrett esophagus, according to a new study.
NSAIDs have been associated with decreased risk of colorectal cancer, but scientists remained uncertain whether NSAIDs are associated with a reduced risk of tumors in other parts of the body. Every year, about 0.5%–1% of patients with Barrett esophagus develop esophageal adenocarcinoma. To test the effects of NSAID use on the risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma, Thomas Vaughn, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and colleagues studied a cohort of 350 patients with Barrett esophagus.
They found that current and former NSAID use was associated with a decreased risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma compared with no NSAID use. The researchers recommend further clinical testing of patients with Barrett esophagus before NSAIDs are used as a chemopreventive strategy.
The study was published online November 8 in The Lancet Oncology.
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