ACPM - American College of Preventive Medicine

April 29, 2003

Dr. Alfred O. Berg
Chair, USPSTF
C/o AHRQ
6010 Executive Blvd., Suite 300
Rockville, MD 20852

Dear Dr. Berg:

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) is pleased to provide comments on the draft Recommendation Statement, "Screening for Ovarian Cancer: Recommendations and Rationale" developed by the United States Preventive Services Task Force. ACPM commends the Task Force for addressing this issue.

In response to your solicitation ACPM is submitted comments written by one of its members, Rebecca Ferrini, MD. Dr. Ferrini has particular expertise in cancer screening and clinical preventive services. In 1997, Dr. Ferrini drafted ACPM's policy "Screening for Asymptomatic Women for Ovarian Cancer". Currently, Dr. Ferrini serves as Medical Director at San Diego County Edgemoor Hosptial and she is a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.

Please note that these comments are those of an independent reviewer and do not reflect the official view of ACPM nor of Dr.Ferrini’s affiliations.

Thank you again for the opportunity to review the draft statement. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Barry
Deputy Director

ACPM
The American College of Preventive Medicine
1307 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202-466-2044
Contact Person: Jennifer K. Bretsch, MS @ ext. 107 or jkb@acpm.org

________________________________________________________________________

Review of the USPSTF draft Recommendation Statement on Screening for Ovarian Cancer: Recommendations and Rationale.

BY: Rebecca Ferrini, MD

FOR: ACPM

DATE: April 29, 2003

Thank you for the opportunity to read this well-researched and well-written statement.

I only have one comment. Under "Recommendations of others" there is a statement about the ACS recommendations for women with a "very strong family history," but not for those without "known strong risk factors." How is a "very strong family history" or "strong risk factors" defined? What kind of relative risk are we talking about here--three times? What factors are they considering?

Otherwise, outstanding work!

Rebecca Ferrini, MD