Ultrasound screening for the early detection of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer screening in the general population has been performed using ultrasound examination of the female pelvis and serum tumor marker determinations. Ultrasound examinations, particularly transvaginal sonography (TVS), have been advocated as potentially useful modalities. Investigators from the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY) and Hirosaki University (Hirosaki, Japan) have recently published results from ultrasound-based ovarian cancer screening studies. The Kentucky trial screened 14,469 women using TVS on an annual basis. One hundred eighty women underwent surgery, and 17 ovarian cancers were detected, 11 of which were invasive epithelial lesions. The Hirosaki trial reported the results of an ultrasound-based screening study among 51,550 women who were first-time participants. Three hundred twenty-four women underwent surgery, and 22 ovarian cancers were detected. In each of these trials, the positive predictive value of gray-scale sonography was low. Morphologic tumor indexing and Doppler examinations have both been proposed as potential second-line studies, which could increase the positive predictive value of gray-scale ultrasound. A review of these techniques is presented. At present, ovarian cancer screening in the general population using ultrasound examinations is an experimental technique. Further studies are needed to determine whether second-line testing can improve the positive predictive value of gray-scale sonography such that asymptomatic women do not undergo unnecessary surgery for benign masses.