U.S. scientists discovered about two gene mutations in some cases of ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is the abnormal cell growth in the ovarian tissue. The disease is most prevalent in middle-aged women. Death rate is highest among older women aging 55 to 75. About 25% of death due to ovarian cancer occurs in female between 35 to 54 years of age.
In the study, researchers focused on examining the gene mutations that may cause ovarian clear-cell carcinoma. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center examined eight patients having ovarian clear cell carcinoma. They noted the mutations that happened in two specific genes, which are ARID1A and PPP2R1A.
ARID1A is the gene responsible in suppressing the tumors cells. Alteration in this gene may cause propagation of tumor cells in the tissue. On the other hand, alteration in PPP2R1A gene may speed up the transformation of normal cells to tumor cells.
In the study posted in Science Express online, the results tell about the tumor cell extracted from the cancer patients where researchers found about 57% of ARID1A mutation and 7.1% of PPP2R1A mutation are present in the tumor cell. This will serve as new biomarkers to diagnose the disease, an expert says.
A research posted in New England Journal of Medicine online identified the mutation of ARID1A gene with other subtypes of ovarian cancer. David G. Huntsman, MD, of the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, and a team of experts discovered the alteration of ARID1A gene in ovarian clear cell and endometrioid carcinomas.
Researchers found that about 46% of the ovarian clear cell cancers and about 30% of the endometrioid carcinomas have the mutation in the ARID1A gene.
According to U.S. statistical reports, experts found that about 12% of ovarian cancers belong to the ovarian clear-cell carcinomas. Experts claim that ovarian clear-cell carcinoma has the second highest death rate among the cancer subtypes. It follows the high-grade serous carcinomas, which account for the 70% of the cases.
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