Ovarian cancer biomarker

BACKGROUND: Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is mostly resistant to standard chemotherapy that results in poor patient survival. To understand the genetic background of these tumours, we performed whole-genome sequencing of OCCC tumours. METHODS: Tumour tissue samples and matched blood samples were obtained from 55 Japanese women diagnosed with OCCC. Whole-genome sequencing was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform according to standard protocols. RESULTS: Alterations to the switch/sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) subunit, the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway, and the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)/Ras signalling pathway were found in 51%, 42%, and 29% of OCCC tumours, respectively...

PURPOSE: Low skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) has been reported to have an influence on survival and toxicities of chemotherapy in several solid tumors. The impact of sarcopenia on the treatment of ovarian cancers has not been determined. The present study aimed to evaluate correlation between sarcopenia and toxicities of chemotherapy in ovarian cancers. METHODS: Medical charts of the ovarian cancer patients that received chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin at our hospital between 2010 and 2015 were retrospectively reviewed...

The ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases comprises four members: epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ErbB1), human EGFR 2 (HER2/ErbB2), ErbB3/HER3, and ErbB4/HER4. The first two members of this family, EGFR and HER2, have been implicated in tumorigenesis and cancer progression for several decades, and numerous drugs have now been approved that target these two proteins. Less attention, however, has been paid to the role of this family in mediating cancer cell survival and drug tolerance. To better understand the complex signal transduction network triggered by the ErbB receptor family, we built a computational model that quantitatively captures the dynamics of ErbB signaling...

Purpose: <p>Targeting tumor-associated macrophages with CSF-1R inhibition reveals a strategy for cancer therapy. Here, we studied the impact of CSF1R germline genetic variant on CSF-1R signaling and the susceptibility to CSF-1R inhibitors.</p> <p>Experimental designs: </p> <p>CSF1R germline genetic variants were studied in 140 cancer patients. CSF-1R phosphorylation, endocytosis and macrophage polarization were measured as the response to CSF-1 stimulation. Tumor-associated macrophages in surgical specimens and sensitivity to CSF-1R inhibitors were used to determine macrophage function...

MicroRNAs have been established as key regulators of tumor gene expression and as prime biomarker candidates for clinical phenotypes in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). We analyzed the coexpression and regulatory structure of microRNAs and their co-localized gene targets in primary tumor tissue of 20 patients with advanced EOC in order to construct a regulatory signature for clinical prognosis. We performed an integrative analysis to identify two prognostic microRNA/mRNA coexpression modules, each enriched for consistent biological functions...

The purpose of the current study was to explore the carboplatin‑induced sequential changes in gene expression and screen out key genes, which were associated with effects of carboplatin on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The microarray dataset GSE13525 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, including 6 EOC cell samples separately treated with carboplatin at 24, 30 and 36 h (case group), and 6 samples treated with phosphate‑buffered saline at the same time points (control group). A total of 3 sets of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were respectively identified in case samples at 24, 30 and 36 h compared with the control group via the Limma package, and separately recorded as DEG‑24, DEG‑30 and DEG‑36...

Gynecological cancer is difficult to be diagnosed at early stages. The relatively high mortality rate has been a serious issue accordingly. We herein reported a diagnosis method by using circulating tumor cells (CTCs) which have been extensively explored as a potential tool for diagnostics and prognostics of ovarian cancers. Nonetheless, the detection of CTCs still remains a challenge because of the difficulty in isolating them from whole blood samples since they are shed into the vasculature from primary tumors and circulate irregularly in the bloodstream in extremely low concentrations...

Human biliverdin reductase (hBVR), is an enzyme, that converts biliverdin to bilirubin, and has been implicated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition?EMT? in breast cancer. However, few studies have investigated the role of hBVR in cell apoptosis in other cancers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of hBVR in several lines of cancer cells. The results of this study showed that hBVR expression was up-regulated in breast, lung, and liver cancers, but not ovarian cancer. Moreover, hBVR inhibition by small interfering RNA (si-hBVR) attenuated cell survival and increased caspase-3 protein expression, which was mediated by the ERK1/2 signaling pathway in relative cancer cells...

Antagonizing the oncogenic effects of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) with current anti-HER2 agents has not yet yielded major progress in the treatment of advanced HER2-positive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Using preclinical models to explore alternative molecular mechanisms affecting HER2 overexpression and oncogenicity may lead to new strategies for EOC patient treatment. We previously reported that phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC) exerts a pivotal role in regulating HER2 overexpression in breast cancer cells...

BACKGROUND: The number of pulmonary nodules detected in the US is expected to increase substantially following recent recommendations for nationwide CT-based lung cancer screening. Given the low specificity of CT screening, non-invasive adjuvant methods are needed to differentiate cancerous lesions from benign nodules to help avoid unnecessary invasive procedures in the asymptomatic population. We have constructed a serum-based multi-biomarker panel and assessed its clinical accuracy in a retrospective analysis of samples collected from participants with suspicious radiographic findings in the Prostate, Lung, Chest and Ovarian (PLCO) cancer screening trial...

Ovarian cancer is one of the most significant disease among gynecological disorders that women suffered from over the centuries. However, disease-specific and effective biomarkers were still not available, since studies have focused on individual genes associated with ovarian cancer, ignoring the interactions and associations among the gene products. Here, ovarian cancer differential co-expression networks were reconstructed via meta-analysis of gene expression data and co-expressed gene modules were identified in epithelial cells from ovarian tumor and healthy ovarian surface epithelial samples to propose ovarian cancer associated genes and their interactions...

Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), a mucinous sialylated sugar chain on human mucin-1 glycoprotein (MUC1), is a diagnostic marker for interstitial lung diseases. Furthermore, elevated serum KL-6 levels have been observed in certain malignant tumor types of epithelial origin. The expression of MUC1 has been observed in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and is considered a potential therapeutic target. In the present study, KL-6 serum levels were investigated in patients clinically suspected of having malignant ovarian tumors...

The aim of the present study was to identify the appropriate DNA sequence and design high-quality primers for methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). These primers may be used to examine and identify patients with early-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC). Opioid binding protein/cell adhesion molecule like (OPCML), Runt-related transcription factor 3 and tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 were selected as possible molecular markers. MSP primer sets were designed to monitor the methylation of the three markers...

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 6 (eIF6) affects the maturation of 60S ribosomal subunits. Found in yeast and mammalian cells, eIF6 is primarily located in the cytoplasm of mammalian cells. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that the dysregulated expression of eIF6 is important in several types of human cancer, including head and neck carcinoma, colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and ovarian serous adenocarcinoma. However, the molecular mechanisms by which eIF6 functions during tumor formation and progression remain elusive...

Background: The relationship between coffee consumption and mortality in diverse European populations with variable coffee preparation methods is unclear. Objective: To examine whether coffee consumption is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: 10 European countries. Participants: 521 330 persons enrolled in EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition)...

Breast and ovarian cancer are heterogeneous diseases. While breast cancer accounts for 25% of cancers worldwide, ovarian cancer accounts for 3.5% of all cancers and it is considered to be the most lethal type of cancer among women. In Oman, breast cancer accounts for 25% and ovarian cancer for 4.5% of all cancer cases. Various risk factors, including variable biological and clinical traits, are involved in the onset of breast and ovarian cancer. Although highly developed diagnostic and therapeutic methods have paved the way for better management, targeted therapy against specific biomarkers has not yet shown any significant improvement, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer, which are associated with high mortality rates...

BACKGROUND: Due to high mortality and lack of efficient screening, new tools for ovarian cancer (OC) diagnosis are urgently needed. To broaden the knowledge on the pathological processes that occur during ovarian cancer tumorigenesis, protein-peptide profiling was proposed. METHODS: Serum proteomic patterns in samples from OC patients were obtained using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). Eighty nine serum samples (44 ovarian cancer and 45 healthy controls) were pretreated using solid-phase extraction method...

Aberrant changes of N-glycan modifications on proteins have been linked to various diseases including different cancers, suggesting possible avenue for exploring their etiologies based on N-glycomic analysis. Changes in N-glycan patterns during epithelial ovarian cancer development have so far been investigated mainly using serum, plasma, ascites, and cell lines. However, changes in patterns of N-glycans in tumor tissues during epithelial ovarian cancer progression have remained largely undefined. To investigate whether changes in N-glycan patterns correlate with oncogenesis and progression of epithelial ovarian cancer, we profiled N-glycans from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue slides using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and quantitatively compared among different pathological grades of epithelial ovarian cancer and healthy controls...

The aims of this study were to investigate a clinical observation that patients with epithelial ovarian cancer treated with first-line platinum-paclitaxel chemotherapy combination (TP) develop macrocytosis and to explore the possible predictive role of macrocytosis in response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival. A retrospective analysis of laboratory and clinical data on 184 consecutive ovarian cancer patients treated with first-line TP chemotherapy in a single oncology center from 2004 to 2015 was carried out...

BACKGROUND: Human kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6) is a member of the kallikrein family of serine proteases. KLK6 is synthesized as a preproenzyme, mainly in tissues of the central nervous system (CNS), and secreted as an inactive precursor. Serum KLK6 is a biomarker of unfavorable prognosis for ovarian cancer, but its sensitivity for early detection is relatively low. Differential glycosylation of KLK6 has been identified in ascites fluid obtained from ovarian cancer patients, suggesting the presence of unique KLK6 isoforms in biological samples...