Healthwatch: New Blood Test Detects Early Stage Ovarian Cancer

Researchers said they've developed a new blood test for early stage ovarian cancer and it's 99 percent accurate.

Ovarian cancer is known as "the silent killer" because it's hard to detect until it's advanced and difficult to treat. That's why early detection is so important. Doctors at the Yale School of Medicine who developed the blood test said it works by using more protein bio-markers than other tests available.

The new test looks for signs of an actual tumor as well as proteins the tumors produce. Researchers said that's the key to detecting ovarian cancer early. The test looks for the most common form of ovarian cancer which is three-times more lethal than breast cancer. If caught early, ovarian cancer is very treatable.

Doctors said they hope the new test will become part of a woman's routine medical care. Right now, the test is only available at Yale University through its Discovery to cure Program. It's been licensed to a private company in the U.S. but there's no word on when it will become more widely available. The best thing to do is check with your doctor.