Screening is a system used to check those that are susceptible to the disease for easily signs of ovarian cancer. However at the moment there is not fully accurate test for ovarian cancer.

However there are 2 main trials going on in order to try and find an effective way of screening for this. These 2 trails are transvaginal ultrasound and blood test CA125.

The transvaginal ultrasound involves putting an ultrasound probe into the woman’s vagina. This allows doctors to see a fuller picture of the ovaries. Even with this test it is difficult to tell if there is cancer on the ovaries or if it is just a cyst.

The CA125 is known as a tumor marker for this type of cancer. This means that it gives off a chemical given off by cancer cells circulates in the blood. This test can be inaccurate those as not all with ovarian cancer will have raised CA125.

For this reason the test on its own is not accurate as it would not find all cases of ovarian cancer. It could also indicate that some one has ovarian cancer when they do not – causing unnecessary distress to the women being tested.

For this reason they are researching other ways of screening and testing for ovarian cancer. They are looking into an accurate test to enable more women to be diagnosed early and have their chances of survival increase!

They hope that eventually they will be able to combine a tumor marker test with a blood test to be able to pick up early signs of cancer & rule out people that do not have it.

At the moment there are 2 times when you will start to be screened – Firstly if you are at higher risk and you are over 35 or from 5 years before the age your youngest relative was told they had ovarian cancer. The cancer screening will then continue yearly for the rest of your life.

Of course as with any illness like cancer is there are no set rules as to why one person may get it and why one person may not. There are however some steps that you can take to reduce your risk of contracting this disease. This includes living a healthy active lifestyle – Non smokes for example are at a much lower risk of developing any type of cancer. Vitamin D is also very good for you and your fight against cancer. There are ways you can change your diet to improve your chances.

Many tests and trials show that a low fat diet can help reduce the risks of you developing ovarian cancer. Trials have shown that participants that upped their intake of fruit and vegetables to at least 5 portions a day decreased their chances of developing ovarian cancer. The types of fruit and vegetables also are important. Of course any fruit or vegetable is good for you but to introduce the most colorful diet you can is even better – Bright vegetables such as carrots and yellow gourd and colorful fruit such as blueberries, oranges and tomato’s can decrease your risk of developing ovarian cancer by up to 30%

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate is also shown to improve your chances of not developing this disease. I am sure you will not have heard of this; however it is present in green tea.

This powerful antioxidant known as EGCG has shown to stop the growth of ovarian cancer. It also helps sensitize them to certain anti cancer drugs.

Of course not everyone likes tea but there are other ways to introduce EGCG into your diet. For example the T bar (made by Tze Tze) has 130mg of EGCG in a bar. The cereal bar also has other nutrients and vitamins present.

For those amongst us with a sweet tooth, a company called Neuchatel produces Green Tea Chocolates which contacts EGCG.