Is Ovarian Cancer Linked to Ovulation?
(Medical Xpress) -- Could ovulation be the link to ovarian cancer? Joanna Burdette of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy thinks it might be, and she's working to find out.
Burdette, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at UIC, is conducting new research to discover if ovulation increases a signaling pathway that transforms cells of the ovary surface or the lining of the Fallopian tubes into ovarian cancer.
Burdette has received a four-year $720,000 grant from the American Cancer Society of Illinois for her research, which focuses on epithelial cells, or surface and lining cells, in this case, of the female reproductive system.
"One of the most confounding issues of ovarian cancer is the concept that the epithelial subtype responsible for the disease is still not completely known," Burdette says.
"Preventing the disease might be attainable, but we first need to find out where the tumors arise," she said. "Past research has concluded that the cancer occurs from either the epithelial cells on the ovary, fallopian tube, or both."
Using three-dimensional cell cultures developed in her laboratory to monitor early cell-signaling pathways responsible for the disease, Burdette is investigating how cells become cancerous and whether hormones are part of the process.
Ovulation is thought to contribute to ovarian cancer, she says, by spurring cell proliferation; by stimulating cell-signaling pathways in response to pituitary hormones; and by damaging DNA, due to the inflammatory oxidative stress that results from release of the egg from its follicle.
Burdette is focusing on one particular signaling molecule, called Akt.
"Akt is one of the most frequently activated pathways in ovarian cancer," Burdette said. The gene that produces the Akt molecule, she says, is dialed up in response to oxidative stress or the hormones that trigger ovulation.
Burdette and her co-workers plan to grow both the ovarian and the tubal epithelium as 3-D organ cultures, transform the normal cells into cancer cells, and determine which signaling pathways are activated by the cancerous transformation. This should confirm whether Akt is activated and whether it thwarts the DNA-repair mechanism differently in ovarian epithelial cells than in cells of the Fallopian tubes. Mutations in that DNA-repair mechanism are often found in women who have ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer strikes about 22,000 women in the U.S. each year, according to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. A woman's lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is 1 in 17, with most cases developing after menopause. Symptoms include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling of fullness, or urinary tract issues.
Few treatments were available in the 1970s. Diagnosis was not possible until the cancer was advanced, and few women survived longer than six months. Today, almost half of patients are alive five years after diagnosis.
Burdette hopes her work will further increase the life expectancy of ovarian cancer patients.
"Sadly, the overall incidence of ovarian-cancer death has not changed much in 30 years," she said.
Provided by
University of Illinois at Chicago
-
Ovarian cancer arises in fallopian tube of knockout mice
Feb 13, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Researchers exploring important new insight into ovarian cancer
Nov 07, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Experimental drug inhibits cell signaling pathway and slows ovarian cancer growth
Apr 15, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Ovarian Cancer May Mimic Fallopian Tube Formation
Mar 06, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
New scientific model tracks form of ovarian cancer to origins in fallopian tube
Apr 18, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
-
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013
-
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
New smartphone application improves colonoscopy preparation
The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in ...
Cancer
May 19, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Research examines new methods for managing digestive health
Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle.
Cancer
May 19, 2013 |
not rated yet |
1
New colonoscope provides ground-breaking view of colon
A ground-breaking advance in colonoscopy technology signals the future of colorectal care, according to research presented today at Digestive Disease Week(DDW). Additional research focuses on optimizing the minimal withdrawal ...
Cancer
May 18, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
ASCO: combo antibody therapy effective for melanoma
(HealthDay)—Concurrent use of two immune checkpoint antibodies—ipilimumab and nivolumab—may be effective for the treatment of advanced melanoma, according to a proof-of-principal study presented in ...
Cancer
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Risk factors ID'd for poor cutaneous cell CA outcomes
(HealthDay)—The risks of metastasis and death associated with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) are low, but significant, and risk factors for poor outcome include tumor diameter, invasion beyond ...
Cancer
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
New theory on genesis of osteoarthritis comes with successful therapy in mice
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have turned their view of osteoarthritis (OA) inside out. Literally. Instead of seeing the painful degenerative disease as a problem primarily of the cartilage that cushions joints, ...
Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images
In their quest to learn more about the variability of cells between and within tissues, biomedical scientists have devised tools capable of simultaneously measuring dozens of characteristics of individual ...
Researchers identify a potential new risk for sleep apnea: Asthma
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have identified a potential new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea: asthma. Using data from the National Institutes of Health (Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)-funded Wisconsin ...
Study finds that sleep apnea and Alzheimer's are linked
A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two.
'Gap' for HIV vaccine efforts after latest setback
The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up $8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.
Ginger compounds may be effective in treating asthma symptoms
Gourmands and foodies everywhere have long recognized ginger as a great way to add a little peppery zing to both sweet and savory dishes; now, a study from researchers at Columbia University shows purified components of the ...