ABSTRACT
Among gynecologic tumors, ovarian carcinoma has the highest lethality rate with about 14,600 deaths from ovarian cancer in the United States in 2009 [1]. Ovarian cancer is the fth leading cause of cancer deaths among women and often goes undetected until it reaches an advanced stage. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths in the United States than all other female reproductive cancers combined [1]. Due to the availability of early detection tests and improved treatments, survival rates are much higher for other cancers such as breast or cervical cancer. However, less than 20% [1,2] of ovarian cancers are found at an early stage due to lack of reproducible and denitive diagnostic methods. Early symptomatic diagnosis is difcult as the typical symptoms (such as bloating, pelvic pain, and/or nausea) are common to a host of causes.
