A screening programme for ovarian cancer could be on the horizon after scientists developed the world's first blood test.

It could save thousands of lives through earlier detection of the devastating disease, along with reducing unnecessary surgery.

Dubbed the 'silent killer', there are few obvious symptoms. Roughly 60 per cent of cases are diagnosed when cancer has already spread - making it very difficult to treat.

READ MORE: Ovarian cancer protein discovery could fast-track detection and substantially increase survival

Professor Ulf Gyllensten, of Uppsala University in Sweden, said: "Our results are promising enough to consider screening for early discovery of ovarian cancer."

In the UK some 7,270 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year. The disease claims 4,230 lives annually.

One in five are too ill to receive treatment by the time they are diagnosed. Women have a 90 per cent chance of surviving if the cancer is caught early.

But just 10 per cent survive if they are diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer - the most advanced stage.

What is more, most women who undergo surgery to check for suspected ovarian cancer do not have it.

The method described in Communications Biology offers hope of more precise diagnostics - without the need for this procedure.

It is based on an analysis of 11 proteins in a sample of blood sample where ultrasound has indicated abnormalities in women.

Out of 10 patients, only three to four survive five years after treatment, and there has been no test specific enough to justify screening.

Women with chance findings of an ovarian cyst or with symptoms instead undergo an ultrasound.

If abnormalities are seen, surgery is the only way to make sure all cancers are detected.

This means many women are operated on without having cancer, resulting in unnecessary surgery and increased risks for women.

READ MORE: Ovarian cysts: An expert explains 

Prof Karin Sundfeldt, a gynaecologist at the University of Gothenburg, said: "We need to develop more accurate pre-surgery diagnostics.

"To detect one cancer, we operate on up to five women - yet this is currently the best option when abnormalities are detected by ultrasound and cancer is suspected.

"There is a great need for a simple blood test that could identify women who do not need surgery."

For cases in which physicians chose to operate, the cancer rate could increase from one in five to one in three, say the researchers.

This would slash the number of operations - and the risk of complications related to surgery.

The biomarker profile can also detect borderline cases and early stages of the disease.

Prof Gyllensten said: "In Sweden, we have long experience of screening for cervical cancer.

"I see great prospects of developing a strategy for screening for ovarian cancer as well, which could save lives and minimise the need for surgery to rule out cancer."

The test has been developed in collaboration with Uppsala-based biotech company Olink Proteomics AB.

Prof Gyllensten added: "We are now continuing to evaluate the test and are performing a large-scale study of samples."

These have been collected from hospitals across Sweden.

Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to spot due to vague early symptoms, which include bloating and loss of appetite, that are often mistaken for mild complaints.

Over a quarter of women are currently only diagnosed after rushing to A&E, often with severe pain. By then the cancer is frequently too advanced for them to be treated.

In January, Theresa May set the NHS a target to diagnose three-quarters of cancer cases early within ten years, but currently, just 42 per cent of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at stage one or two.