Fiona Lowe Outback Romance; small communities, big hearts

Fiona Lowe

Outback Romance

Ovarian cancer is a threat to women. It sneaks silently into our lives often causing irreparable damage before we even know it's there. Fortunately the Women's Cancer Institute in association with HealthLinx and ARL are currently conducting a trials of a new test for detecting ovarian cancer early. But like all medical research it takes a lot of dedication and money and donations are gratefully received.

This year, more than 1200 women in Australia will be diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Over 700 of these women will die from the disease - almost double the number of women who will die on our roads.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal of women's reproductive tract cancers, and there is an urgent need for new therapies. While the cause of ovarian cancer is not known, in some cases it can be linked to a family history of cancer of the ovary, colon and breast.

There are no obvious symptoms to alert a woman to its presence and spread. As a result, most women who develop ovarian cancer are diagnosed once the cancer has spread throughout the body and when the chance of survival is low.

Currently, there is no community-based screening test for early stage ovarian cancer. Most people mistakenly believe that the Pap smear test will detect all gynaecological abnormalities, but this is not the case.

By the time most women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it has spread throughout the body and the survival rate is less than 30%. If ovarian cancer could be detected at an early stage, before it has left the ovary, then the survival rate would be greater than 85%. Since Pap smear testing for cervical cancer and mammogram screening for breast cancer became widespread, death rates have dropped 70 and 50 per cent respectively.

The objectives of the OCI are:

(i) to increase the awareness of the impact of ovarian cancer in our community: and (ii) to further all aspects of research into the causes, early diagnosis, prevention, treatment and care of women with ovarian cancers.

OCI works to translate biomedical research into tangible clinical applications and services that will benefit the women of Australia. In particular, the OCI targets the development of new tests to detect ovarian cancer earlier and thereby improve the outcome for women who develop this disease.

In addition, the OCI conducts and supports studies to understand why ovarian cancer develops and how it spreads throughout the body.

The OCI is a unique organisation, in that it conducts its reserach programmes in selected Victorian research centres where its efforts can have the greatest impact on women's health. These centres include the Mercy Hospital for Women and the Baker Medical Research Institute.

To facilitate the timely delivery of new applications in women's health, the OCI has established partnerships with Melbourne-based biotechnology company HealthLinx Ltd and pathology service company Australian Reference Laboratory.

As part of this partnership, OCI, HealthLinx and ARL are currently conducting a Phase II Biomarker Trial of a new test for ovarian cancer (OvPlex).

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