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| HistoScanning is a tissue differentiation, visualization and quantification tool for diagnosis support. The technology can be adapted and trained to differentiate tissues in organs accessible by ultrasound. An application addressing the clinical challenges associated with management of symptomatic patients suspected of being at risk for ovarian cancer is currently in clinical trial phase. |
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Ovarian Cancer Background |
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- Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common female cancer.
- More than 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year worldwide, with incidence
rates the highest in the USA and Europe1.
- In 2002, about 22,500 new cases of ovarian cancer were registered in the USA and more than 6,700 new cases were diagnosed in the UK alone1.
- The disease accounted for about 14,500 deaths among USA women in 2002 and approximately 4,600 deaths in women in the UK, respectively1.
- Ovarian cancer is more common in postmenopausal women but may present in younger women.
- It is estimated that 1 in 72 women in the USA will be diagnosed with cancer of the ovary during their lifetime (compared to 1 in every 48 women in the UK)2,3.
- Patients that are detected early and treated appropriately may have up to 90% survival rate. But only one in five women with ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage2.
- Most patients present when the disease is widespread (called Stage III or IV) and the chances of cure are low. It is therefore hoped that early detection by screening will save lives.
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Tools available to gynaecologists today are not suitable for large scale screening
programs for ovarian cancer. In fact, routinely used imaging techniques (eg. ultrasound,
CT scanning or MRI) and serum markers have only limited capacity to differentiate
benign ovarian conditions from cancerous tumours that may be aggressively invasive
and life threatening. Typically, it will only be through exploratory surgery (i.e.
laparoscopy) that this distinction - benign vs. malignant - is achieved. Up to 90%
of such surgeries reveal benign or normal ovarian histology4. |
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Because of the high false-positive rate of screening associated with current diagnostic
tools, broad population screening programs for ovarian cancer are not considered
appropriate as it may result in sending healthy women down the road of costly and
unnecessary surgery, for ovarian masses of which the great majority will turn out
to be benign. |
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References: |
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1. IARC. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide
(2002 estimates). |
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2. Cancer Research UK Ovarian Cancer. Available online from
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/ovary/incidence/ |
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3. National Cancer Institute. SEER Stat Fact Sheets. Available online from
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html |
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4. Management of Adnexal Mass. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment nr.
130. Myers ER, Bastian LA, Havrilesky LJ et al.
Available online from http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/adnexal/adnexal.pdf |
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