Nearly 25 percent of early ovarian cancer patients not receiving recommended biopsies

HealthDay (2/10, Preidt) reported, “More than one-quarter of women with apparent early-stage ovarian cancer don’t receive recommended lymph node biopsies to check for cancer spread, which nearly doubles these patients’ risk of death,” according to a study in the journal Gynecological Oncology. The researchers analyzed “medical records and cancer registry data of 721 presumed early-stage ovarian cancer patients” and found that only “72 percent had lymph nodes from the pelvis and abdomen tested for signs of cancer spread.” The five-year survival rate was “84 percent for patients who had lymph node biopsies and 69 percent for those who did not have the biopsies.” The study also found that gynecologic oncologists were “nearly four-times more likely to perform all recommended staging biopsies” than other surgical specialists.