Ovarian cancer screening questioned

Women screened annually for ovarian cancer were just as likely to die from the disease as women who didn't have regular screening, concludes a large new study that found screening did not catch the cancers earlier, as it is intended to do.

Calling into question the effectiveness of ovarian cancer-screening techniques, the researchers found that more of the women screened annually had surgery to remove their ovaries and suffered complications related to false-positive test results: A screening suggested they had cancer when they really didn't. The finding is in line with other recent research. According to the National Cancer Institute, 1 in 72 women will get ovarian cancer. But symptoms usually don't start until the cancer has spread, so most women who are diagnosed already have an advanced stage of the disease that is harder to treat.

The disease kills most women within five years of their diagnosis.-- Reuters