Three proteins may be used to diagnose ovarian cancer, according to a new study released on Wednesday.
Researchers analyzed blood samples from 34 women with ovarian cancer and 70 women without the disease to evaluate six proteins identified as potential indicators of ovarian cancers.
Garnet Anderson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and colleagues found that levels of three of the six proteins began to increase slightly in patients with ovarian cancer three years before diagnosis.
Anderson wrote in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that the elevated levels aren't really what we'd probably define as abnormal until within the last year before diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is rare, but can be deadly. There is no simple and reliable screening program to test for the medical condition in women who do not have symptoms.
When the cancer id diagnosed in its early stage, the five-year survival rate can be as high as 93 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.
Therefore, a screening method that can detect ovarian cancer in its early stage is desired.
The researchers wanted a screening method just that can be used like the PSA test
for prostate cancer. However, the prostate specific antigen is by itself not a reliable indicator.
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Study finds that imetelstat targets mechanism that allows cancer cells to divide
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug called imetelstat shows promise in treating glioblastoma brain cancer and
prostate cancer, according to the results of preclinical studies in which the drug was tested on human prostate cancer cells and in rodents with glioblastoma.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that the drug had an effect on most tumor cells, as well as cancer stem cells believed to cause most of a cancer's growth. Tests in mice with glioblastoma also showed that the drug was able to cross from the bloodstream into the brain. Most drugs cannot cross the blood-brain barrier.
The glioblastoma study is published in the January issue of Clinical Cancer Research, and the prostate cancer study was published online in the International Journal of Cancer.
Imetelstat (also called GRN163L) is being tested in clinical trials as a treatment for breast cancer, lung cancer and lymphocytic leukemia. The drug targets a mechanism that allows cancer cells to continue dividing.
"Because it attacks a mechanism that's active in most cancers, it might prove to be widely useful, especially when combined with other therapies," Dr. Jerry Shay, a professor of cell biology at the university and senior co-author of both studies, said in a university news release.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about brain tumors.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, news release, Jan. 4, 2010
