Cancer Institute A national cancer institute
designated cancer center

Patrick O. Brown

Publication Details

  • The preclinical natural history of serous ovarian cancer: defining the target for early detection.

    Brown PO, Palmer C. PLoS Med. 2009; 6 (7): e1000114

    Ovarian cancer kills approximately 15,000 women in the United States every year, and more than 140,000 women worldwide. Most deaths from ovarian cancer are caused by tumors of the serous histological type, which are rarely diagnosed before the cancer has spread. Rational design of a potentially life-saving early detection and intervention strategy requires understanding the lesions we must detect in order to prevent lethal progression. Little is known about the natural history of lethal serous ovarian cancers before they become clinically apparent. We can learn about this occult period by studying the unsuspected serous cancers that are discovered in a small fraction of apparently healthy women who undergo prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (PBSO).

    PubMedID: 19636370

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