Health authorities are suggesting new age-specific guidelines for ovarian cancer screening, aiming to identify women at higher risk more promptly.

Traditionally, ovarian cancer screening relied on a blood test that assesses cancer antigen 125 (CA125) levels. Women showing levels of 35 IU/mL or higher were typically referred for additional evaluation, without considering their age.

Experts have raised concerns that this uniform threshold might fail to detect cancers in older women and lead to unnecessary investigations in younger women.

In a draft update to their guidelines, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has now proposed a more individualized approach that accounts for how the risk of ovarian cancer evolves with age.

The guidelines also suggest that CA125 testing alone may not be sufficiently reliable for women under 40. They recommend that women in this age group with persistent symptoms undergo ultrasounds.

Eric Power, Deputy Director of the Centre for Guidelines at NICE, stated, “The committee’s proposed recommendations aim to ensure more personalized and targeted testing, allowing for earlier identification and referral of women at the highest risk of ovarian cancer.”

‘This tailored approach will mean GPs can make more informed decisions about which patients need urgent investigation, while reducing unnecessary ultrasound scans, freeing up NHS resources.

‘These updates will ensure that our guideline reflects the latest evidence and will help improve the detection of cancer and ensure those who need it get swift treatment.’

Health officials have recommended new age-based thresholds for ovarian cancer screening

The updated guidance also proposes that people aged 60 and over with unexplained weight loss – greater than five per cent over six months – receive further investigation or suspected cancer pathway referral.

It comes amid a rise in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions in England, so it also called for more research into when unexpected bleeding while taking it should prompt investigation for endometrial cancer.

NICE guidance is used by GPs and other primary healthcare professionals to determine if patients with potential cancer symptoms should be referred to specialists for further examination.

It’s estimated that there are over 7,000 new cases of ovarian cancer, and nearly 4,000 deaths caused by the illness, in the UK each year.

The deadly cancer is notoriously hard to diagnose because symptoms can be mistaken for less serious problems. 

Therefore, only one in five patients are diagnosed in the early stages when it hasn’t spread to other parts of the body and treatment is more likely to be successful. 

Of women diagnosed in this stage, 93 per cent go on to survive for more than five years but this falls to just 13 per cent if they are diagnosed in the later stages.

Classic symptoms include stomach bloating and pain, pelvic pain, no appetite, feeling full quickly after eating and needing to urinate more urgently and often.

Other signs include indigestion, constipation, diarrhoea, back pain, persistent fatigue, unintentional weight loss and unusual bleeding from the vagina.

While any woman can get ovarian cancer certain factors can increase an individual woman’s risk of developing the disease.

These include age – with the risk of ovarian cancer rising as you get older – and a family history of the disease.

Both the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can both increase the risk of ovarian and breast cancer by more than 40 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

Endometriosis – a condition that causes uterine tissue to grow outside of the womb, causing painful periods and heavy bleeding – also increases risk of the illness fourfold.

Being overweight can also make you more likely to get the illness, as well as having cancer elsewhere in the body. 

Ovarian cancer is caused by abnormal cells in the ovary, fallopian tube and peritoneum – all parts of the reproductive system – which grow and divide in an uncontrolled way forming a tumour. 

They can grow into the surrounding organs and may spread to other areas of the body but treatment depends on the type of cell the cancer originally starts in. 

Common treatment options for the disease include surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, chemotherapy to shrink the tumours and hormone therapy.