HE4

The quest to find the 'voice' of ovarian cancer --that silent killer that doesn't speak up in a symptomatic sort of way until it's spread beyond the ovaries-- continues. European women now have a new testing option with the release of the HE4 assay, a blood test which screens for this protein known to be elevated early in the course of ovarian cancer.

Researchers found that the results of the HE4 test when combined with the not-so-golden CA125 test (which thus far has been the gold standard for ovarian cancer screening) can be dropped into a mathematical equation that accurately predicts a woman's chances of having the disease.

The HE4 test is currently under FDA review in this country.