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Ladies can rejoice as in what looks like a breakthrough in the world of ovarian cancer, scientists have found an easy three-question paper-and-pencil survey which can be finished in less than two minutes to effectively diagnose ovarian cancer.

The survey can identify those with symptoms which indicate ovarian cancer.

The study by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center helps early detection of the disease, which is the key to survival. A patient diagnosed with the disease while it is confined only to the ovary has about 70 to 90 percent of survival.  However, more than 70 percent of women get diagnosed only after reaching the advanced stages of the disease and when their chances of survival drops down to 20 percent to 30 percent.

Before narrowing down to one key questionnaire, the researchers evaluated the effectiveness and feasibility of many other symptom screening surveys. Three questions on the current experiences of a woman were found to be the most significant in the diagnosis process:

Abdominal and/or pelvic pain

Feeling full quickly and/or unable to eat normally

Abdominal bloating and/or increased abdomen size

All the three questions have been previously thought to be vital indicators of ovarian cancers. The survey questionnaire also asked the frequency and duration for which these symptoms lasted.

"Symptoms such as pelvic pain and abdominal bloating may be a sign of ovarian cancer but they also can be caused by other conditions. What's important is to determine whether they are current, of recent onset and occur frequently," said lead author M. Robyn Andersen, Ph.D., a member of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division.

According to the report, the previous studies conducted by Andersen and colleagues revealed that about 60 percent of women who are in the early stages of ovarian cancer and 80 percent women who have reached advanced stages of the disease report symptoms that follow this distinctive pattern at the time of diagnosis.

"Women with symptoms that are frequent, continual and new to them in the past year should talk to their doctor, as they may be candidates for further evaluation with ultrasound and blood tests that measure markers of ovarian cancer such as CA-125," she said. "Recent research indicates that approximately one in 140 women with symptoms may have ovarian cancer. Aggressive follow-up of these symptoms can lead to diagnosis when ovarian cancer can be caught earlier and more effectively treated."

There were 200 participants in the current study aged between 40 and 87. More than half of the participants were postmenopausal about 90 percent of them were white.

Among the participants, 5 percent were found to have positive symptoms which needed further investigation. Of this group, one woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer shortly thereafter. Of the rest of the 95 percent of women who were tested negative on the symptom survey, none of them developed ovarian cancer for the next one year of follow-up.

"If ovarian cancer screening using symptoms is widely adopted, maximizing the specificity of screening programs will be important," the authors wrote. "Until better biomarkers are identified and tested, collecting information about symptoms appears to have promise."

According to Andersen, the bottom line is that the questionnaire can be administered easily at a primary-care setting, and is acceptable to patients as well as providers. The test can rightly identify those who need medical attention and gives minimum false-positive results.

The study questionnaire that was tested in the clinic was based on a symptom-screening index developed in 2006 by Andersen and co-author Barbara Goff, M.D., professor and director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The results are published online in the Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.