PLoS Medicine - Ovarian Carcinoma Subtypes Are Different Diseases: Implications for Biomarker Studies

PLoS Medicine - Ovarian Carcinoma Subtypes Are Different Diseases: Implications for Biomarker Studies

Note: (funding) Cheryl Brown was an ovarian cancer survivour and was one of the original founders of Ovarian Cancer Canada.

"Cheryl Brown Ovarian Cancer Outcomes Unit, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"

Why Was This Study Done?

Although it is usually regarded as a single disease, there are actually several distinct subtypes of ovarian carcinoma. These are classified according to their microscopic appearance as high-grade serous, low-grade serous, clear cell, endometrioid, and mucinous ovarian carcinomas. These subtypes develop differently and respond differently to chemotherapy. Yet scientists studying ovarian carcinoma usually regard this cancer as a single entity, and current treatment protocols for the disease are not subtype specific. Might better progress be made toward understanding ovarian carcinoma and toward improving its treatment if each subtype were treated as a separate disease? Why are some tumors confined to the ovary, whereas the majority spread beyond the ovary at time of diagnosis? In this study, the researchers address these questions by asking whether correlations between the expression of “biomarkers” (molecules made by cancer cells that can be used to detect tumors and to monitor treatment effectiveness) and the stage at diagnosis or length of survival can be explained by differential biomarker expression between different subtypes of ovarian carcinoma. They also address the question of whether early stage and late stage ovarian carcinomas are fundamentally different.