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For the past 30 years, I have devoted my professional career to the care of women with
gynaecological cancer. There is no doubt that the most distressing of the gynaecological
malignancies is ovarian cancer.
It is sometimes referred to as “the silent killer”, because it produces only vague
symptoms, particularly in its early stages, and we presently have no population screening
test for the disease. |
Even the most health-conscious woman is likely to find that her
disease is advanced at the time of diagnosis. For this reason, 5 year survival rates are
about 40%, less than half the survival rate for breast cancer.
Cancer is caused by abnormalities (called mutations) in human genes. Since the
completion of the Human Genome Project in 2004, we now know that there are about
30,000 genes in a human cell, and our research has determined that about 300 of these
genes are abnormal in patients with ovarian cancer.
With further research, we are confident that we will be able to develop a blood test
that would allow routine screening of all women for ovarian cancer, thereby leading to
an earlier diagnosis. Our expectation would be that cure rates would then markedly
improve, and become comparable with those of breast cancer.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Neville Hacker
Director, Gynaecological Cancer Centre, RHW |
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