indeed, picking up cancer predisposition.
For one, he says, the results were similar in yet another validation group, of women with a different disease — endometrial cancer.
Widschwendter also pointed to the second study, which involved 329 women with aggressive breast cancer and 869 without the disease. The WID index was able to identify women with the disease, and those who scored the top 25% had a greatly increased risk of breast cancer.
Widschwendter says the researchers will study whether the WID test can identify women at high risk and, most importantly, whether further measures can catch cancer early.
For women at risk of aggressive breast cancer, that could mean screening more frequently, with MRI scans.
Cervical Cancer Attacks Black Women Harder: Here’s Why
For women at risk of ovarian cancer, that could mean using approaches that are under study — like a combination of the CA 125 blood test and a test that looks for “altered cancer DNA” in the plasma, Widschwendter adds.
Stone had a more guarded take on the findings. “These data are hypothesis-generating,” she says. At this point, characterizing the test as revealing cancer predisposition, she adds, “is a stretch.”
As for preventing ovarian cancer deaths, Stone pointed to an alternative to awaiting advanced tests. It’s become clear, she notes, that most deadly ovarian tumors actually begin in the fallopian tubes, which connect the ovaries and uterus.
Ovarian cancers could be prevented, Stone suggests, by offering women the option of having their tubes removed once they are done having children.
Screening will increase your likelihood of catching certain cancers early, when they are most likely to be curable. For more information about cancer screening guidelines at any age, visit the American Cancer Society.