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Ovarian Cancer Essay

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Researchers find that markers of nutrition and inflammation can help predict ovarian cancer chemoresistance and mortality.

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of death for women in the United States. In 2017, it's estimated that less than 40% of women who are affected by the disease will achieve a successful cure. Some women with the difficult-to-treat disease often have tumors that are not only at advanced stages but also able to resist current chemotherapy drugs.

Chemoresistance and metastases in ovarian cancer mean higher mortality rates and poor prognosis

Scientists have long been studying ovarian cancer and potential therapies. This includes understanding how the tumor is able to survive despite our best efforts. It's …show more content…

Albumin and C-reactive protein have been recently studied as prognostic biomarkers for other types of cancer.

Because varying levels of albumin and c-reactive protein have been associated with different tumor types, there has been intense interest in its value as a prognostic marker for cancer. The beauty of using these molecular markers is that they are very easily collected from the patient's blood. The test itself is also relatively rapid and inexpensive, so basically we are able to gain a lot of useful information to help patients without putting them in too much danger or spending a lot of their money.

The prognostic nutritional index and modified Glasgow prognostic score are both ways that scientists use nutritional and inflammatory markers to evaluate patients.

To assess these markers, there are several scales and scoring systems that have been developed. The prognostic nutritional index is one such scale that incorporates the ratio of different white blood cells as well as the ratio of C-reactive protein-to-albumin levels in the blood. The modified Glasgow prognostic score is another similar scale that incorporates factors related to both C-reactive proteins and albumin. It's efficient, simple enough to use, and these scales have been correlated with the prognosis and survival of many different cancers including cancers of the colon, stomach, lung, and pancreas.

Chinese scientists explored the usefulness of using

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