Ovarian cancer can be tested simply

A test that looks at four proteins in the blood of women can show whether they have &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14663_.html ' target=_blank>ovarian cancer, a rare and deadly cancer that is virtually impossible to screen for now, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. While their test is accurate -- 95 percent versus 10 percent for the current test -- they said it was still not good enough to use as a general screening test in the population.

"This test is able to differentiate healthy individuals from ovarian cancer patients with an overall sensitivity/specificity of about 95 percent," the researchers wrote this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in about 22,000 U.S. women this year and 80 percent of cases are not detected until the cancer has spread. That means more than 16,000 U.S. women will die of ovarian cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.