New test may detect gynaecological cancers far earlier

A new screening programme for ovarian cancer could help spot the disease, saving thousands of lives a year.

There is no national screening test in Ireland, because current blood tests produce false results.

But scientists in the US say they have tweaked it to detect the cancer more accurately.

2If you are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer today, 40% of those women will die," said

Robert Marsh, from British research fund The Eve Appeal.

"So something really needs to happen in terms of identifying these cancers much earlier, and providing treatment much earlier, because we all know that if you treat cancer earlier, the prognosis is much better."