Increasing accuracy of diagnosis, prognosis.

• Position: Ovarian Cancer - Brief article

Nearly anyone touched by ovarian cancer will tell you: it is devastating. It is bad enough that cancer in almost 80% of patients reaches advanced stages before diagnosis, and that most patients are expected to die within five years--but just as painfully, roughly one-quarter of women diagnosed have no warning that they are resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, the main line of defense, nor that they likely will have a mere 18 months to live.

The diagnosis, prognosis, and even treatment of ovarian cancer largely have remained unchanged for 30 years. The best indicator for how a woman will fare, and how her cancer should be treated, has been the tumor's stage at diagnosis.

However, scientists at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, have uncovered patterns of DNA anomalies that predict a woman's outcome significantly better than tumor stage. In addition, these patterns are the first known indicator of how well a woman will respond to platinum therapy. The...