Ovarian cancer screening in the general population: current status

There has been considerable interest in the prospect of early detection of ovarian cancer through screening asymptomatic women from the general popula tion. The results of recently published trials provide encouraging data on the possible impact on mortality. There are, however, concerns about compli ance, cost, and morbidity from surgery for false positive screen results. T he two ongoing randomized controlled trials in the US and UK aim to establi sh definitively the true impact of screening on ovarian cancer mortality wh ile comprehensively tackling the issues of target population, compliance, h ealth economics, and physical and psychological morbidity of screening.