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Study Finds 40 Percent of Ovarian Cancer Cases Diagnosed After Emergency Room Admission
@ABC reported that a BMJ Oncology study published Tuesday found 40% of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed following emergency room visits. Patients diagnosed this way are three times less likely to catch the disease at an early stage. The analysis examined registry data for 28,204 women.
Jul 8, 7:28 PM·1m read1 source
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A study published Tuesday found that 40 percent of women with ovarian cancer receive their diagnosis after an emergency room admission, @ABC reported. Women diagnosed through this route are three times less likely to have the disease identified at an early stage than those diagnosed through scheduled visits. The study, published in BMJ Oncology, analyzed registry data for 28,204 women.
Emergency diagnoses occurred in 68.6 percent of severely frail women, 44.2 percent of women in economically deprived neighborhoods, and 42.7 percent of women aged 18 to 29. The National Cancer Institute estimates 21,010 Americans will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2026.
Ovarian cancer often produces vague symptoms such as mild bloating or stomach pain that can be mistaken for common digestive issues.
Without routine screening recommended for the general public, the disease frequently advances until an acute event prompts an emergency visit and imaging reveals the cancer. "Women who have used oral birth control have a 30% to 50% lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who have never used them," Dr. Areta Bojko, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, told @ABC.
She advised patients to note abrupt changes in baseline patterns of bloating or early satiety and to request imaging such as a pelvic ultrasound when symptoms persist. , an internal medicine resident at NYU Langone Health and member of the ABC News Medical Unit, authored the @ABC report.
