USPSTF Statement on Ovarian Cancer Screening
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2018
In a final statement, published in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against screening for ovarian cancer in women who do not show signs or symptoms of the disease. However, this recommendation does not apply to women who are at high risk for ovarian cancer, such as those with a BRCA mutation associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome.
“Evidence shows that current screening methods do not prevent women from dying of ovarian cancer and that screening can lead to unnecessary surgery in women without cancer,” said USPSTF member Michael J. Barry, MD, Director of the Informed Medical Decisions Program in the Health Decision Sciences Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
The USPSTF found that screening methods including transvaginal ultrasound, testing for CA-125, or a combination of both do not reduce ovarian cancer mortality risk. However, screening led to a range of harms including false-positive results, which can lead to unnecessary surgery and associated serious surgical complications.
“The Task Force is calling for research to find better screening tests and treatments that can help reduce the number of women who die from ovarian cancer,” noted USPSTF member Chien-Wen Tseng, MD, MPH, MSEE, of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.
