Video: Symptom screening, blood test detect ovarian cancer

Larger screen

Melissa Rivkin is at high risk for ovarian cancer. Her mother, Marsha, died of the disease before the age of 50, leaving behind five daughters.

But Melissa remains optimistic.

"The cure rate is pretty good if you're diagnosed early," she said.

Like many high-risk woman, Melissa undergoes frequent screenings.

"I also get the CA 125 blood test done twice a year," she said.

One problem is that the test isn't completely reliable. But now Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center researcher Robyn Andersen found that when the test is combined with a symptom index, the accuracy goes up.

"The two combined appear to identify 80.6 percent of women with early stage disease," said Andersen.

The index was developed four years ago by a University of Washington researcher.Important symptoms include sudden onset of pelvic or abdominal pain, bloating or increased abdominal size, difficulty eating, or feeling full quickly.

"They are recent onset, new to you, not something you've had every month since you were 18 and very frequent, nearly every day," said Andersen.

Andersen says even then it probably won't be ovarian cancer, just as most lumps aren't breast cancer, but it's worth getting checked out right away.

"The suspicion is that ovarian cancer may be a very quick-moving cancer for most women who have it and therefore waiting a couple of months would be a real problem," said Andersen.

When discovered early, the cure rate for ovarian cancer is more than 90 percent. In later stages it drops to 20 percent.