News Release

Screening reveals additional link between endometriosis and ovarian cancer

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

SAN DIEGO, April 4, 2014 – Some women with endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory disease, are predisposed to ovarian cancer, and a genetic screening might someday help reveal which women are most at risk, according to a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) study, in partnership with Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI).

Monday at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014, UPCI and MWRI researchers will present the preliminary results of the first comprehensive immune gene profile exploring endometriosis and cancer.

"A small subset of women with endometriosis go on to develop ovarian cancer, but doctors have no clinical way to predict which women," said senior author Anda Vlad, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at MWRI. "If further studies show that the genetic pathway we uncovered is indicative of future cancer development, then doctors will know to more closely monitor certain women and perhaps take active preventative measures, such as immune therapy."

Endometriosis is a painful, often invasive and recurrent condition that happens when the tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus, causing inflammation. It affects approximately one in 10 women.

By screening tissue samples from women with benign endometriosis, endometriosis with precancerous lesions and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer, Dr. Vlad and her colleagues identified the complement pathway, which refers to a series of protein interactions that trigger an amplified immune response, as the most prominent immune pathway that is activated in both endometriosis and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer.

"If, as our study indicates, a problem with the immune system facilitates cancer growth through chronic activation of the complement pathway, then perhaps we can find ways to change that and more effectively prime immune cells to fight early cancer, while controlling the complement pathway," said lead author Swati Maruti Suryawanshi, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow at MWRI.

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Instrumental to this multidisciplinary study were Robert P. Edwards, M.D., and Esther Elishaev, M.D., both of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, and Xin Huang, Ph.D., MWRI. Additional contributors are Raluca Budiu, Ph.D., SungHwan Kim, Ph.D., and George Tseng, Ph.D., all of Pitt; and Marcia Klein-Patel, M.D., Ted Lee, M.D., Suketu Mansuria, M.D., all of UPMC.

This research was funded by UPMC grant 02.93530.

About UPCI

As the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in western Pennsylvania, UPCI is a recognized leader in providing innovative cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment; bio-medical research; compassionate patient care and support; and community-based outreach services. Investigators at UPCI, a partner with UPMC CancerCenter, are world-renowned for their work in clinical and basic cancer research.

About Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC

Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC is a full-service women's hospital and includes a range of services for women and men: diagnostic imaging including CT and MRI, a Heart Center, bariatric surgery, orthopaedics, digestive disorders, comprehensive breast and gynecologic cancer services, pulmonology, thoracic surgery, minimally invasive abdominal surgery, vascular surgery, and a full-service emergency department.

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Contact: Allison Hydzik
Phone: 412-647-9975
Mobile: 412-559-2431
E-mail: HydzikAM@upmc.edu

Contact: Jennifer Yates
Phone: 412-647-9966
E-mail: YatesJC@upmc.edu


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