Identification of common mechanisms between endometriosis and ovarian cancer

Abstract

Increased TGF-β1, COX-2, VEGF, ER-1α, AR, and aromatase and decreased PR in endometriotic as well as EOC cells suggests a potential association between these two disease processes. This association is important, as it may reveal common mechanisms for both diseases.

Common Dysregulated Genes in Endometriosis and Malignancies

“…50 Indeed, the calculated risk of women developing ovarian cancer is two times higher compared with the general population, and after a follow-up period of over 10 years, this risk may increase 4.2-fold. 4,17 Although the ovary is the most affected organ by endometriosis-originated tumors, reports have recently showed that endometriosis is a risk factor for the development of endometrial cancer. 48,51 Even if infrequently, there have been reports of extraovarian sites affected by malignant transition from endometriotic implants.…”

“…Previous works have shown that molecules like the inflammatory cytokine Il-1, growth factors and TNF-α are expressed in endometriosis, creating a condition comparable to the one found in malignancies. 4,17,60 Another work has detected overexpression of p53 in atypical endometriosis and cancer associated with endometriosis by immunohistochemistry. The authors concluded that the molecule may be used to identify endometriosis with premalignant potential.…”

“…4,5 Several investigations have focused on the malignant transformation of ectopic endometrial tissue, supporting the hypothesis of its pre-neoplastic state, predominantly in the ovary. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Studies have revealed that endometriotic lesions in endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer (and tumor) may go through multistep transition stages, from typical to atypical endometriosis, and then to carcinoma. 19,20 It has also been documented that the two major cancer histotypes related to the malignization of ovarian endometriosis are endometrioid and clear cell carcinomas, 21 and serous and mucinous carcinomas are encountered less frequently.…”

Association between the epidermal growth factor gene polymorphism and endometriosis in women from Brazil

“…Moreover, it has been associated with several types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer (Wu et al, 2010), melanoma (Shahbazi et al, 2002), gliomas, and ovarian cancer, where it was shown that the presence of the G allele may be a protective factor for the development of this type of cancer (Araujo et al, 2009). Studies have shown that ovarian cancer may be related to endometriosis (Brinton et al, 1997(Brinton et al, , 2004Meng et al, 2011); thus, the +61 A/G EGF polymorphism may be involved in the mechanism of endometriosis development.…”

Endometriosis-Search for Biomarkers

“…Additional potential biomarkers being elevated in endometriosis are TGF-β1, COX-2, VEGF, ER-1α and aromatase (Meng et al, 2011), but their elevated levels are unfortunately not fully endometriosis-specific to be utilized in clinical practice. Despite extensive research, co consensus exists on the use of cytokines in diagnosis (Fassbender et al, 2015).…”