Screening for Ovarian Cancer

by Ricker Polsdorfer, MD

Main Page

Risk Factors

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Treatment

Screening

Reducing Your Risk

Talking to Your Doctor

Living With Ovarian Cancer

Resource Guide

The purpose of screening is early diagnosis and treatment. Screening tests are administered to people without current symptoms, but who may be at high risk for certain diseases or conditions.

Screening Guidelines

There are no standard tests or current guidelines for ovarian cancer screening. However, if you have any risk factors for ovarian cancer, your doctor will want to discuss them with you to help reduce your risk. In certain cases, your doctor may check for the possibility of cancer in the ovaries. Those with higher than average risk of ovarian cancer include women with a family history or specific genetic mutations.

Possible tests for those with high risk include:

Pelvic exam
Pap smear —to test for the presence cervical dysplasia or cervical cancer
Transvaginal ultrasound
Blood tests

Talk to your doctor about your ovarian cancer risk and any tests you may need.

REFERENCES:

Can ovarian cancer be found early? American Cancer Society website. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/ovarian-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/detection.html. Updated February 4, 2016. Accessed January 29, 2018.

Ovarian cancer screening. EBSCO DynaMed Plus website. Available at:http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T901809/Ovarian-cancer-screening. Update June 14, 2017. Accessed January 29, 2018.

6/5/2009 DynaMed Plus Systematic Literature Surveillancehttp://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T901809/Ovarian-cancer-screening: Partridge E, Kreimer AR, Greenlee RT, et al. Results from four rounds of ovarian cancer screening in a randomized trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2009;113(4):775-782.

Last reviewed November 2018 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Mohei Abouzied, MD, FACP Last Updated: 10/26/2016

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