Trial Information

A Pilot Study of Short Non-coding RNA Biomarkers of Predisposition to Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the most lethal female reproductive malignancy, mainly because
80% of tumors have metastasized beyond the ovary at the time of diagnosis. Screening efforts
aimed at improved identification of early stage disease have been largely unsuccessful,
because of ovarian cancer's propensity for early spread. Our hypothesis is that this
obstacle can be circumvented by identifying biomarkers for the precancerous stage of this
disease. Since this pre-cancerous stage is currently undetectable, we instead propose to
look for biomarkers in women at very high risk for developing ovarian cancer due to genetic
mutations. We hypothesize that identification of markers for genetic predisposition to
ovarian cancer will also be informative for detection of biological changes that over time
lead to sporadic cancers. Given their increasingly recognized role in states of normal and
abnormal growth and differentiation, we hypothesize that short non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs)
hold significant promise as biomarkers of ovarian cancer predisposition. We will test these
hypotheses in two aims. First, we will identify biomarkers for hereditary ovarian cancer
risk by comparing serum-derived sncRNAs in women with and without hereditary risk for
ovarian cancer. In the second aim we will define serum-derived sncRNAs correlates of ovarian
cancer disease status. We will compare sera from ovarian cancer patients at times of highest
and lowest disease burden to those of control, cancer-free subjects. Each aim will provide
independent, novel, and important information for future investigations. The sncRNAs found
to be differentially expressed in both aims will be prioritized for future validation in
women under clinical surveillance for hereditary risk of ovarian cancer.