Researcher looks for ways to detect deadly cancer before it develops

Out of the 22,240 women in the United States who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, only about 47 percent survive longer than five years.But Dr. Beth Karlan, the newly appointed director of cancer population genetics atUCLA ’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, is hopeful that her research will not only help women get diagnosed with ovarian cancer at an earlier stage, but also identify the women who are most at-risk so they can intervene before the cancer even develops.In this interview, Karlan, who is also the vice chair of women ’s health research in the obstetrics and gynecology department in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, talks about the role of being both a physician and scientist and why genetics is an important key to early detection.What are the benefits of being both a physician and scientist?I walk on both sides. I hold patients ’ hands and provide clinical care, and then go to the lab to unravel the problems. My patients help me stay focused, to figure out which questions are the most urgent and need to be answered quickly. I operate on many, many women with ovarian cancer. And I’ve always been struck with how on diffe rent days I can do the same surgery on two or three women, and one woman lives only two years, and another one is lucky enough to live 20 years. We do our best to remove cancerous tumors, but at times, they can have a mind of their own. In the laboratory however, we can very much control what happen s in an animal m...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news