Serous Ovarian Carcinoma (serous + ovarian_carcinoma)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Psammoma bodies in cervicovaginal smears: Incidence and significance

DIAGNOSTIC CYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
Vinita Parkash M.D.
Abstract Psammoma bodies (PB) are seen in a wide variety of gynecologic conditions. However, only a few reports address the incidence or significance of PB in cervicovaginal smears (CVS). Twenty patients with PBs in CVS were identified over a 5-yr period during which time 82,840 CVS were screened. Nine cases were associated with malignancy: six uterine serous/clear cell carcinoma, two serous ovarian carcinoma, and one fallopian tube carcinoma. The remaining 11 were benign: one had an ovarian cystadenofibroma and one had PB associated with benign endometrium and endosalpingiosis. In the remaining nine cases, PB were not found on additional studies, although four gave a history of oral contraception and one each had chronic endometritis and IUD in place. The presence of atypical glandular cells diagnostic of carcinoma was the only single feature that predicted carcinoma (7/7). A combination of clinicopathologic features were helpful predictors of malignancy: postmenopausal bleeding (8/9 cases), age over 45 (9/9 cases), and abnormal clinical examination (5/9 cases). Conversely, benignancy was associated with postmenopausal bleeding in 1/11 cases, age over 45 in 3/11 cases and abnormal clinical examination in 2/11 cases. The incidence of PB in our series consecutively screened smears is 8 per 82,840 smears (0.009%). Unlike prior reports, we found that the presence of PB on CVS is not as ominous a finding as previously indicated, as only 12.5% (1/8) of patients with PB on their CVS harbor carcinoma. PB in a CVS in a young patient merits a thorough examination, but not surgical exploration in the absence of additional clinical findings or atypical cells on the CVS. Older patients (>45 yr) have a higher incidence of malignancy, even in the absence of clinical findings or atypical cells on CVS, and may warrant a surgical exploration. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2002;26:81,86; DOI 10.1002/dc.10058 © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Analysis of chromosomal changes in serous ovarian carcinoma using high-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization: Potential predictive markers of chemoresistant disease

GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 1 2007
Sang Wun Kim
The mechanism of drug resistance in cancer is multifactorial, and the accumulation of multiple genetic changes may lead to drug-resistant phenotypes. This study sought to determine characteristic genetic changes in chemoresistant serous ovarian carcinomas using high-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), and identified genomic aberrations that could be used as predictive markers of chemoresistant disease. Seventeen primary ovarian tumors from optimally debulked stage IIIc serous ovarian carcinoma patients were analyzed using aCGH. Ten patients had chemoresistant disease (progression within 12 months of initial chemotherapy), whereas seven patients had chemosensitive disease (no recurrence for more than 36 months). Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to select chromosomal aberrations that could help distinguish chemoresistant disease from chemosensitive disease. In 17 tumors, frequent increases in DNA copy number were seen on 1p36.33, 3q26.2, 8q24.3, 10q26.3, 12p11.21, 20q13.33, and 21q22.3, and frequent losses were observed on 4p12, 5q13.2, 7q11.21, 8p23.1, 14q32.33, Xq13.3, and Xq21.31. The gains on 5p15.33 and 14q11.2, and losses on 4q34.2, 4q35.2, 5q15, 8p21.1, 8p21.2, 11p15.5, 13q14.13, 13q14.2, 13q32.1, 13q34, 16q22.2, 17p11.2, 17p12, and 22q12.3 were more frequent in chemoresistant disease. The losses on 13q32.1 and 8p21.1 had the largest areas under the curve (AUC 0.90 and 0.85, respectively). The most reliable combination of chromosomal aberrations for detecting chemoresistant disease was the loss on 13q32.1 and 8p21.1 (AUC 0.950). Our findings suggest that these chromosomal aberrations are potential predictive markers of chemoresistant disease in patients with serous ovarian carcinomas. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Prognostic significance of Notch 3 gene expression in ovarian serous carcinoma

CANCER SCIENCE, Issue 9 2010
Sang G. Jung
The Notch signaling pathway is an important cell signaling system, which regulates cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, and is aberrantly activated in a wide range of cancer, including ovarian cancers. However, it remains unclear as to whether Notch signaling plays a role in the progression and prognosis of ovarian cancer. We examined the mRNA and protein expression of Notch 3, Jagged 1, and Jagged 2 in 98 ovarian epithelial tumors via real-time PCR and in 175 tumors with immunohistochemical analysis, and then correlated their expression levels with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival. In this study, we detected high levels of Notch3 mRNA and protein expression especially in serous ovarian carcinomas compared to their benign counterparts, accompanied by a positive correlation with the expressions of Jagged 1 and Jagged 2. High levels of Notch 3 mRNA expression (>2-fold than that of benign tumor) were noted in 63% of the serous carcinomas (mean level: 17-fold, P = 0.032). Additionally, Notch 3 protein overexpression was significantly associated with advanced stage (P = 0.0008), lymph node (P = 0.001), and distant metastasis (P = 0.003). Notably, high Notch 3 mRNA and protein expressions were correlated with chemoresistance (P = 0.033) and poor overall survival (P = 0.027, P = 0.042) in these patients. Our results indicate that the Notch 3 signaling pathway is involved in the tumor progression of ovarian serous carcinoma, and higher Notch 3 expression may be an independent poor prognostic factor in this subset of tumors. (Cancer Sci 2010) [source]