M. Robyn Andersen, Ph.D., M.P.H., a member of the Molecular Diagnostics Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is available to discuss ovarian cancer symptoms, screening and risk factors.
Her research interests include the development of a symptoms index to improve early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She is also involved in projects examining psychosocial predictors of quality of life for ovarian and breast cancer survivors and the influence of complementary and alternative medicine on cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Many women at high risk for ovarian cancer don’t know it
She is also interested in the awareness of ovarian cancer risk among women with a family history of breast cancer.
Recently she led a study of nearly 1,900 Seattle-area women with family histories that could suggest the presence of BRCA1 or BRCA1 genetic mutations that are associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. She found that while nearly two-thirds of those surveyed knew they should be worried about breast cancer, more than 75 percent had no idea they should be concerned about ovarian cancer as well. The findings were published recently in the journal Behavioral Medicine.
Her study revealed that in the more than 15 years since BRCA testing has been available, awareness among high-risk women of their ovarian cancer risk hasn’t budged, even though the American Cancer Society estimates the disease will be diagnosed in nearly 22,000 U.S. women this year and will kill more than 14,000.
Andersen says more high-risk women should be directed to genetic counseling, because awareness of the potential of ovarian cancer is vital, particularly for those who may have BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations. Although the numbers for ovarian cancer are far smaller than for breast cancer, which is diagnosed in more than 230,000 U.S. women each year and kills nearly 40,000, about 85 percent of ovarian cancer cases are detected at a late stage when the disease has spread and prognosis is poor.
Ovarian cancer screening: Simple 2-minute questionnaire checks for 6 warning signs
Andersen and colleagues also developed a simple three-question paper-and-pencil survey, given to women in the doctor’s office in less than two minutes, which can effectively identify those who are experiencing symptoms that may indicate ovarian cancer. The study, published in 2012 in the Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, represents the first evaluation of an ovarian cancer symptoms-screening tool in a primary care setting among normal-risk women as part of their routine medical-history assessment.
The survey asked whether a woman was currently experiencing one or more of the following symptoms, all of which have been identified previously as potentially indicative of ovarian cancer:
• Abdominal and/or pelvic pain• Feeling full quickly and/or unable to eat normally• Abdominal bloating and/or increased abdomen size
The survey also asked about the frequency and duration of these symptoms: how many days a month and for how long.
“Symptoms such as pelvic pain and abdominal bloating may be a sign of ovarian cancer but they also can be caused by other conditions. What’s important is to determine whether they are current, of recent onset and occur frequently,” Andersen said. Previous research by Andersen and colleagues has found that about 60 percent of women with early-stage ovarian cancer and 80 percent of women with advanced disease report symptoms that follow this distinctive pattern at the time of diagnosis.
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