Scientists have made a major discovery that could help find ovarian cancer earlier and treat it better.
This new study shows where a deadly type of ovarian cancer most likely begins, giving doctors a new target for early detection.
The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, focused on a cancer called high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). This is the most aggressive form of ovarian cancer and a leading cause of cancer deaths in women.
One big problem with this cancer is that it is usually not found until it has already spread. By then, it’s very hard to treat, and most women live less than five years after diagnosis.
Doctors have long suspected that HGSC doesn’t actually start in the ovaries. Instead, they believed it begins in the fallopian tubes—the thin tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus. But no one knew exactly which cells were involved.
In this new study, a research team led by Dr. Alexander Nikitin at Cornell University found the likely answer. They discovered that a type of cell in the fallopian tube, called pre-ciliated tubal epithelial cells, may be the true starting point of HGSC.
These cells are in the middle of changing from stem cells to mature cells with tiny hair-like structures called cilia. Cilia help move eggs and fluids through the fallopian tubes.
In the past, researchers thought stem cells were the likely source of the cancer. But this new research showed that when two important cancer-fighting genes—TP53 and RB1—were turned off in stem cells, the cells died. However, when those same genes were turned off in the pre-ciliated cells, cancer started to grow.
To test this, the researchers used mice that were genetically modified to have similar genes as humans. When the cancer-related genes were turned off in the pre-ciliated cells of the mice, the mice quickly developed high-grade ovarian cancer.
The scientists also found that a gene called Krt5 was very active in these cells. This gene could be a useful marker for detecting early signs of the cancer.
This is a big step forward in the fight against ovarian cancer. If doctors know exactly which cells cause the cancer, they can look for changes in those cells before cancer even begins. This could lead to much earlier diagnosis, which often means a better chance of survival.
Even better, scientists already understand how pre-ciliated cells grow and change. The process is called ciliogenesis, and since it’s well studied, researchers may be able to find ways to stop cancer from forming in these cells.
The study also gives hope for new treatments. If doctors can target the genes or cell types involved early on, they might be able to stop cancer from developing at all. It could also lead to better screening tests using markers like the Krt5 gene.
While the research was done in mice, the fallopian tubes in humans are very similar, so the findings will likely apply to people too. More studies are needed to confirm this in human tissues, but the results are very promising.
Dr. Nikitin and his team believe this discovery could lead to personalized treatments for women who are at higher risk of developing this cancer. It may improve survival rates and give patients more time and better options in the future.
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