If you're a woman you may have had people tell you to run out and get a CA-125 blood test to see if you have ovarian cancer. But the fact is only about 3 out of 100 healthy women with elevated CA-125 actually have ovarian cancer.

Gynecologist William Rincon explains that if you hear that the CA-125 is a test to diagnose ovarian cancer -it's really non-specific. What you really need to do if you have concerns is see your physician; there are other tests that are recommended. "We can recommend an ultrasound, a CAT scan, or an MRI to make sure that her ovaries are well and that they don't have any growths on the ovaries."

One single blood test should never take the place of an exam with your doctor. It's important to be educated like Marie Schaller. "That's a tool for if you've already had ovarian cancer and they check your markers, they check your numbers to see if they're going down. It's not really good that good as a diagnostic tool."

Dr. Rincon says that approximately 80 percent of women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer will have an elevated CA-125 in their blood system at the time of diagnosis. "Women should know that it is a test, it's a blood test that we perform that does detect cancer but what you have to keep in mind is that other conditions can make that CA-125 rise."

False positive levels can appear if you have a heart condition, liver disease or if you have some other type of medical ailment. Premenopausal women are more likely than postmenopausal women to receive a "false positive"

So really it's the rate of "false positives" with CA-125 that makes it inadequate for use by itself for screening for ovarian cancer. However, it's important to remember that this test can be a lifesaving tool for women who have already been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.