UKOPS
UK Ovarian Cancer Population Study
UKOPS is exploring which symptoms or medical complaints are common in women with ovarian cancer when compared to women who do not have the disease.
What is this study about?
Although up to 10% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have genetic predisposition to the cancer, the remaining 90% are sporadic cases. The latter women are likely to have some genetic factors that will predispose them to the disease but until recently there was very little evidence for this. UKOPS has contributed to the international Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), an amalgamation of 47 groups from around the world and identified several of these factors that only increase the risks marginally compared to the BRCA1/2 mutations in the women at ‘high risk’ to answer the question ‘Why do some women develop ovarian cancer and not others?”.
Currently, CA125 is the only marker used for detecting ovarian cancer early and monitoring its course. The effort through UKOPS has been to identify novel markers that could aid CA125.
Symptoms for ovarian cancer are vague and non-specific and therefore it is difficult to identify the women who have ovarian cancer in primary care. UKOPS is exploring which symptoms or medical complaints are common in women with ovarian cancer when compared to women who do not have the disease.
Contact details
Data Sharing
Please email Aleksandra Gentry-Maharaj (a.gentry-maharaj@ucl.ac.uk) if you wish to explore use of samples and data. Once the project has been discussed with the UKOPS team and there is interest in proceeding with the collaboration, a project proposal will need to be developed and submitted together with a completed Data Access Committee Application Form to our Data Access Committee to approve release of the materials. Please find more information at https://uklwc.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/access-process/.
Who is funding the study?
The Oak Foundation
Where is it taking place?
University College Hospital and Bart’s Hospital, London. St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate. Southend Hospital. St. Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. Llandudno General Hospital and Ysbyty Gwynedd. St. Mary’s Hospital and Wellcome Clinical Research Facility, Manchester. Belfast City Hospital. James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.
Who is included?
Cases
- Women with an adnexal mass suspicious of ovarian cancer who are about to undergo surgery
- Women with a confirmed diagnosis of primary invasive or borderline ovarian cancer
- Women with a probable diagnosis of primary invasive ovarian cancer who are not undergoing surgery
Controls
- Women with a possible benign or borderline adnexal mass who are about to undergo surgery
- Apparently healthy women recruited from the Multimodal arm of UKCTOCS when they attend for annual screening