Ovarian cancer can NOT be detected with a Pap test.
Currently, there is no accurate, reliable test available to test for ovarian cancer. Available and should be used (ask your doctor):
Annual vaginal exam for women age 18 and older.
An annual rectovaginal exam for women age 35 and above. (Physician inserts fingers in the rectum and vagina simultaneously to feel for abnormal swelling and to detect tenderness.)
Transvaginal sonography for women, especially those at high risk. (An ultrasound performed with a small instrument placed in the vagina.)
Blood test to determine if the level of a tumor marker called CA-125 has increased in the blood for women at high risk. Its role in postmenopausal women is superior to that in premenopausal women. (This test is not definitive because some non-cancerous diseases of the ovaries also increase the CA-125 levels, and some ovarian cancers may not produce enough CA-125 levels to cause a positive test.)
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