Not necessarily. Elevated CA-125 (a protein in the blood that’s associated with ovarian cancer) is most often caused by common, ordinary or benign conditions such as uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis — or even just having your period.

Dr. Neppalli’s challenge: to help doctors from other countries find ways to deliver fast, accurate diagnoses using the materials and facilities they have back at their home centers.

The old book doesn’t look like much. Its red fabric cover is faded. The edges of the pages have yellowed, and there are no photos or illustrations inside — just page after page bearing the signatures of eminent people, including world-renowned scientists who changed the course of history.

Dr. Odunsi and his colleagues observed that the tumors of some patients were full of T cells that had managed to work their way inside the tumor. When there were many of these T cells, the patients tended to live longer.

Surgical advances, such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), have replaced the Chamberlain procedure and offer the surgeon a better way to examine the lungs, determine the extent of the disease and get higher-quality biopsies.

A combination of two immunotherapy drugs shows promise in treating patients with skin cancer that has spread to the brain, according to a study published this week the New England Journal of Medicine.

Research and patient advocacy revolutionized breast cancer care in the 1970s, giving women a greater voice in their treatment.