Labcop - OVASURE

Has anyone spoken to their oncologists about OVASURE the new screening test launched by LabCorp.  I know it is a very new test but I think the oncologist community must already have some beforehand information about this test.

What I am interested in is if this test can be used to monitor when one is in remission.  Since my mother is getting treated in India the oncologists there do not have much information on this test because it was launched recently in the US.  I did Google this and found that LabCorp is launching this test for just around $300...not sure how accurate this amount is but regardless of the cost the benefits are amazing.

Below is the news article that was published recently.


BURLINGTON, N.C., Jun 23, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Laboratory Corporation of America(R: 68.87, -1.21, -1.72%) Holdings (LabCorp(R: 68.87, -1.21, -1.72%)) (NYSE: LH: 68.66, +0.17, +0.24%) is now offering OvaSure(TM: 93.26, +0.42, +0.45%), an Ovarian Cancer Screening test to assess the presence of early stage ovarian cancer in high-risk women. In a recent study of high risk and average risk subjects, this blood test, using six biomarkers and research conducted at Yale University School of Medicine, was shown to discriminate between disease-free women and ovarian cancer patients (stage I-IV) with high specificity (99.4%) and sensitivity (95.3%). Additional studies performed at Yale University School of Medicine demonstrate comparable findings.

"LabCorp is pleased to offer for high-risk women the OvaSure test to enhance the potential of detecting and treating ovarian cancer in its early or localized stage when the likelihood of survival is greatest," said Myla P. Lai-Goldman, M.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of LabCorp. "OvaSure is a significant addition to LabCorp's family of proteomic tests, and a major component of LabCorp's strategy to bring the latest in diagnostic technology to women's healthcare."

It has been estimated that for the year 2008, 21,650 women will be newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It has been further estimated that 15,520 women will die from the disease in 2008. Despite being one-eighth as common as breast cancer, it is three times more lethal. If ovarian cancer is diagnosed and treated at the localized stage, the 5-year survival rate is 92%; unfortunately, only 19% of all cases are found at the localized stage. Most women have their ovarian cancer detected at the regional or distant stage when the 5-year survival rates are 71% and 30% respectively.

"I am pleased that this test is available to help physicians detect and treat ovarian cancer in its earliest stages," said Gil Mor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale and a member of Yale Cancer Center. "Our team is proud that our research may help play a role in higher survival rates for women with this disease."

[Ovca_info]

You ask if the test will be used to monitor women in remission.

I attended a talk tonight given by Dr. Gil Mor, who is the researcher behind the new test. I asked him just this question, and his answer was yes, it will be used to monitor women in remission. He told the story of a patient who has had two recurrences, both discovered by the new test. Her tumors were removed in both cases.

This test really does seem to be miraculous.