What the hell - this is supposed to be downtown Colorado Springs!
"Ho hum. Myrl's got us lost again"
Fox News, that much maligned conservative news organization
(“Friends Don’t Let Friends Watch Fox
News”) has, despite its perceived imperfections, published an important
news article on ovarian cancer. Here it
is:
This concerns a massive study conducted in the U.K. that has
lasted 14 years so far, and counting. It
is a test of the ROCA (Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm) predictive
technique. ROCA uses CA 125, long known
to be elevated in ovarian cancer. The
most common use of CA 125 consists of a simple threshold measure – if CA 125
> 35, get an ultrasound. (Linda when
first tested was over 600.) The problem
with this is that the normal CA 125 level varies from woman to woman. ROCA overcomes this by establishing a
baseline for each individual; markedly elevated readings
relative to this baseline triggers ultrasound and other tests. From the U.K. study results, ROCA would seem
to be about twice as effective as other methods. ROCA is similar to the method recommended by
my Hutch group involving Bayesian mathematics.
I suspect that ROCA will win out in the end, if only because it is
easier to remember.
Unanswered so far: how early will ROCA catch the cancer?
I have written about ROC before:
By the way: Feliz
Cinco de Mayo a todos.
Carolyn found another version of the same research report. Hers seems to be more detailed.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/test-ovarian-cancer-finds-more-cases-160307711.html
In the U.S. we have ROCA to detect ovarian cancer, and it seems to me that it ought to be as available as, say, Pap smears or mammograms. In India they are using something called ROMA (Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm) for the same purpose. How it works is not explained, but it involves consideration of CA125 number, menopausal status, and the level of HE4 (Human Epididymus Protein 4). If I remember correctly, my Hutch group was responsible for discovering and validating the significance of HE4.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that ROCA>ROMA in reliability, but ROMA is significantly less expensive. Not much money to spare in India.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=95087&sid=2
In the U.S. we have ROCA to detect ovarian cancer, and it seems to me that it ought to be as available as, say, Pap smears or mammograms. In India they are using something called ROMA (Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm) for the same purpose. How it works is not explained, but it involves consideration of CA125 number, menopausal status, and the level of HE4 (Human Epididymus Protein 4). If I remember correctly, my Hutch group was responsible for discovering and validating the significance of HE4.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that ROCA>ROMA in reliability, but ROMA is significantly less expensive. Not much money to spare in India.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=95087&sid=2