2024-01-22 23:52:34
A method to diagnose ovarian cancer recurrence through blood biopsy has been developed.
The research team, including Professor Seungtae Lee of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Professor Jeongyoon Lee and Professor Yuna Kim of the Gynecological Cancer Center at Yonsei Cancer Hospital, and Jinho Heo, Department of Laboratory Medicine at National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital, developed and validated a liquid biopsy method that can diagnose ovarian cancer recurrence. It was announced on the 23rd that it had been confirmed.
The results of this study were published in the international academic journal ‘Cancer Research’ (IF 12.701).
Ovarian cancer recurs more frequently as it reaches a later stage. The recurrence rate of late-stage ovarian cancer reaches 80% compared to the early stage (25%). Prediction of recurrence is important in ovarian cancer treatment. This is because as recurrences occur, resistance develops and treatment becomes more difficult.
Currently, to detect recurrence of ovarian cancer, CA-125 protein levels are examined through blood tests. CA-125 is a biomarker that is often found in ovarian cancer patients, but its level increases due to pregnancy and uterine inflammation, so its specificity, which refers to the probability of a negative test in a person without cancer, is low.
The research team developed a next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel that allows liquid biopsy with a small amount of blood and analyzed its effectiveness on actual patients. Liquid biopsy is a cancer diagnosis method that is one step further from tissue biopsy, which involves removing organ tissue and diagnosing cancer under a microscope.
The biopsy material used by the research team is a cancer fragment gene (ctDNA, circulating tumor nucleic acid) floating in the patient’s blood. We created a panel that can detect gene mutations such as TP53, BRCA1, BRCA2, and ARID1A, which are frequently found in ovarian cancer. It has the advantage of reducing testing costs by adjusting the targeting gene.
Next, the effectiveness of the developed panel was confirmed through next-generation sequencing (NGS) on actual patients. 201 patients with ovarian cancer and 95 patients with benign tumors participated. Periodic examinations were performed every 3 months starting from diagnosis or surgery.
Gene mutations were observed in 70% of ovarian cancer patients using the panel used in the study. On the contrary, no pathogenic mutation was detected in patients with benign tumors, boasting a test specificity of 100%.
Even if a tumor mutation was found in the initial test, if the mutation was not found in the test six months following treatment, the rate of cancer progression stopping reached 70%. On the other hand, if a mutation was detected even following 6 months of treatment, the proportion of ovarian cancer patients who progressed to recurrence was 90%.
The research team’s test method was able to detect ovarian cancer recurrence regarding three months earlier than the existing CA-125 test. Because CA-125 is a protein that can be found even in healthy people, recurrence is diagnosed when it exceeds a certain standard. The panel used in this study targets ovarian cancer-causing genetic mutations. Compared to existing tests, minimal residual disease can be diagnosed not only more quickly but also more sensitively.
Professor Seungtae Lee said, “The advantage of this study is that we confirmed the effectiveness of liquid biopsy by securing a large number of research subjects, regarding 300 patients, including ovarian cancer and benign tumor patients,” and added, “We will continue follow-up research so that it can be used in actual clinical trials.” said.
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