Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women and causes more deaths than any other gynecologic malignancy. It is estimated that 22,430 new cases will be diagnosed and 15,280 deaths will be attributed to ovarian cancer in the United States in 2007. Despite initial responses to surgery and chemotherapy in up to 80% of cases, more than 75% of affected women ultimately die from complications of disease progression.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and its receptors in epithelial ovarian cancer.

“…Overall, five year survival rates for all stages were in the 30 50% range. Most women, however, present with late stage disease which is associated with a five-year survival rate of about 20% [2].…”

TRA-1-60+, SSEA-4+, Oct4A+, Nanog+ Clones of Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Embryonal Carcinomas of the Ovaries

“…Although rare, the germ cell tumors (GCTs) are very malignant. Among them, pure or admixed embryonal carcinomas of the ovary (ECO) are most deadly malignant tumors [2,3,[22][23]. Moreover, they are most difficult to diagnose with lab tests, since they do not secrete AFP and hCG, as the other GCTs.…”

“…Moreover, in our hands, sorting with the aid of those markers resulted in heterogeneous populations of the cells; thus wide varieties of molecular profiles and biological properties. The neoplasms, which could be identified as the closest to the embryonal carcinomas of the ovaries, were the embryonal carcinomas of the testes [22][23][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58]. Testicular, extragonadal, and ovarian embryonal carcinomas, all share the same morphology.…”

Phase-I clinical trial of IL-12 plasmid/lipopolymer complexes for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer

“…1,2 The 5-year survival of patients with advanced disease is currently about 50%, with 80% of patients eventually relapsing primarily due to drug resistance. Recognition of the limitations of conventional therapy has warranted the search for novel therapies for ovarian cancer.…”