Effective Prognostic Marker Identified for Ovarian Cancer

The sequences were generated based on either Illumina (San Diego, CA, USA) or ABI SOLID sequencing technologies (Applied Biosystems; Carlsbad, CA, USA).

The team identified the gene, Checkpoint Kinase 2 (CHEK2), as an effective prognostic marker of patient survival. HG-SOC patients with mutations in this gene succumbed to the disease within five years of diagnosis, possibly because CHEK2 mutations were associated with poor response to existing cancer therapies. Mortality after diagnosis currently remains high, as patients receive similar treatment options of chemotherapy and radiotherapy despite the diverse nature of tumor cells within tumors and across different tumor samples. With these findings, personalized medicine for ovarian cancer could be developed, with targeted treatment that would be optimized for subgroups of patients.

Sir David Philip Lane, FRS, FRSE FRCPath, the chief scientist at A*STAR, said, “These findings show how the various research institutes at A*STAR offer their expertise in developing new approaches to examine different aspects of the same disease that have not been successfully studied before, such as ovarian cancer. The diverse capabilities and knowledge of our scientists allows us to investigate diseases holistically, from diagnosis to treatment.” The study was published on July 15, 2014, in the journal Cell Cycle.

Related Links:
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
The Cancer Genome Atlas
Illumina