It is possible that a blood test of patients will be used to diagnose o varian cancer in the future. Researchers at the above-mentioned centres have developed a test that detects one of the substances secreted by ovarian cancer cells - one of the pathological glycans that are present on the surface of these cells and ultimately circulate in the blood of women suffering from this cancer.

A toxin derived from bacteria, which has the ability to specifically react with this compound, would be used to detect the cancerous glycan. The scientists have carried out assessments of how effective their proposed method is in diagnosing ovarian cancer. Preliminary results seem promising, to say the least: in the case of very early-stage ovarian cancer, the test was positive in 90% of patients, while in those patients with advanced cancer, the test was positive in all of them. At the same time, in those in the control group who did not have ovarian cancer, the test was negative in all of them.

Those working on the test suggest that their method could not only be used to diagnose ovarian cancer, but their test could also be used to assess the effects of treatment for the disease. It will probably still be some time before the test becomes possibly available. It remains to be hoped, however, that this will happen as soon as possible - at present, diagnosis of ovarian malignant tumours is still imperfect and constantly this dangerous disease takes its toll.