An apoptosis-enhancing drug overcomes platinum resistance in a tumour-initiating subpopulation of ovarian (HGSC) cancer (CA125; carboplatin...)

open access - Nature Communications  (technical)

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Abstract: High-grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSCs) are deadly malignancies that relapse despite carboplatin chemotherapy. Here we show that 16 independent primary HGSC samples contain a CA125-negative population enriched for carboplatin-resistant cancer initiating cells.....
Discussion .... This study provides evidence that CA125-negative HGSC cells have stem properties and are inherently platinum resistant. The de novo platinum resistance of this tumour subpopulation can explain why these cancers consistently reappear after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. On the basis of the promising preclinical results here, improving outcomes for this deadly malignancy could be achieved simply by supplementing existing therapies that work well against the majority of tumour cells with agents that sensitize the CA125-negative cells to carboplatin.

 How to cite this article: Janzen, D. M. et al. An apoptosis-enhancing drug overcomes platinum resistance in a tumour-initiating subpopulation of ovarian cancer. Nat. Commun. 6:7956 doi: 10.1038/ncomms8956 (2015).


media (easier to comprehend)

A common type of ovarian cancer, high-grade serous ovarian cancer, often responds well to the chemotherapy drug carboplatin; however, it frequently recurs following the treatment. Now, UCLA researchers has discovered that malignant cells that do not produce the protein CA125, which is a biomarker used to test for ovarian cancer, have an increased ability to repair their DNA and resist cell death from the chemotherapy. This allows the cells to elude the drug and live long enough to regrow the original tumor. The results of the five-year study were published on August 3 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.......