DEAR DR. GOTT: I would like more information about the blood test CA-125 for ovarian cancer. Articles and doctors here in Topeka, Kan., insist there is no test for ovarian cancer. However, I’ve read about it and have talked to people who have had this test. Topeka is now having a Whisper Walk and awareness for ovarian cancer such as we’ve had for breast cancer, but the people putting it on still say there is no such test.
DEAR READER: CA-125 is a protein found more often in ovarian-cancer cells than in other cells, and because it enters the bloodstream, it can be measured by a blood test. The rate at which CA-125 levels increase is a more accurate method of detecting ovarian cancer than is single testing for the same purpose. [Read more...]