Earlier detection of ovarian cancer with new blood test

A 'multiomic' test could detect biological differences between patients with and without ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women. It often remains undiagnosed until later stages when most patients have a poor prognosis of survival. The new test, trialled at the University of Manchester, uses a multiomic approach looking at both protein biomarkers and lipid profiles. Metabolism of lipids is altered in most cancers, and the test's designers theorised that the changed state of lipids compared to healthy controls could be used as a hallmark of cancer development.

'This platform offers a great opportunity to improve the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer, potentially resulting in better patient outcomes and lower costs to the healthcare system,' said Dr Abigail McElhinny, chief science officer at AOA Dx in Denver, Colorado, the company that developed the test.

Current diagnostic approaches for ovarian cancer are unreliable. Ultrasound scans can miss earlier-stage tumours, and their reliability depends on the skills of the technician. A blood test for the protein CA125 can also be used – elevated levels of this protein can indicate ovarian cancer, but can also result from other gynaecological conditions, so the test is not definitive.

Multiomic tests use integrated results from two or more of the 'omes' – genome, epigenome, transcriptome (RNA), proteome etc – to find information that looking at one system alone does not produce.

This test combines lipidomics with protein results and uses a machine learning approach to improve accuracy and early detection.

The study had two cohorts – one of women suffering from gynaecological or GI conditions that have overlapping symptoms with ovarian cancer (433 samples in total), and the second cohort of women who had ovarian cancer, which was further divided in early stage and late-stage (399 samples in total). They detected a significant difference in lipid states between the two groups, as well as differences between the different stages of cancer.

The test 'shows significant promise for ovarian cancer early detection, offering a practical solution for symptomatic women,' said Professor Emma Crosbie, an expert in gynaecological oncology, who led the trial at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. 'We are eager to continue advancing this important research through additional prospective trials to further validate and expand our understanding of how this could be integrated into existing healthcare systems.'