Ethical concerns relating to the detection and treatment of ovarian cancer

In recent years, research scientists, physicians, and legislators have begun to examine more closely the barriers that women at risk for ovarian cancer run up against in their attempts to get adequate screening and early intervention. In this paper, I discuss two (related) ethical problems that must be confronted by those who respond to these barriers. Both problems stem from an important underlying fact about ovarian cancer. There is no single identifiable cause or marker for this disease. This means that different strategies for combating ovarian cancer will, in all likelihood, have a differential impact on the members of the population who are at risk for this disease. As I show in the paper, this raises important ethical questions about fairness.