Health & Medicine
Cornell University Researchers Discover Origin of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Mar 07, 2013 12:22 AM EST
According to reports from Cornell University researchers, they have recently discovered a likely origin of epithelial ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.
The direct area where the cancer originates has been difficult to pinpoint, according to researchers, as 70 percent of patients are in advanced stages of disease by the time it is detected. Because the origin of ovarian carcinoma development is unknown, early diagnostic tests have so far been unsuccessful.
Some epithelial cancers are known to occur in transitional zones between two types of epithelium (layers of tissue that line the body and organs and form glands), while others originate in epithelial tissue stem cells. All organs have the capacity for regeneration, which is done by adult stem cells located in areas of each organ called stem cell niches.
Using this knowledge, researchers were able to discover a novel stem cell niche for the ovarian surface epithelium in mice and showed that ovarian carcinoma preferentially originates from stem cells found in that niche, according to the study published March 6 in the journal Nature. This stem cell niche lies in a transitional area known as the hilum region, a layer of cells that links the ovary to the rest of the body.
"We now know where these cells are located in mice, so we can look in humans in those areas," said Alexander Nikitin, professor of pathology, leader of the Cornell Stem Cell Program and the paper's senior author. Andrea Flesken-Nikitin, a postdoctoral researcher in Nikitin's lab, is the paper's lead author.
Using the most current genetic research techniques, researchers were able to determine that stem cells from the hilum region were highly prone to ovarian carcinomas.
The technique "allows you to see the fate of stem cells over time," said Nikitin. Using the method on the hilum cells, "we showed that cells from the hilum area spread around the whole ovary."
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First Posted: Mar 07, 2013 12:22 AM EST
According to reports from Cornell University researchers, they have recently discovered a likely origin of epithelial ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.
The direct area where the cancer originates has been difficult to pinpoint, according to researchers, as 70 percent of patients are in advanced stages of disease by the time it is detected. Because the origin of ovarian carcinoma development is unknown, early diagnostic tests have so far been unsuccessful.
Some epithelial cancers are known to occur in transitional zones between two types of epithelium (layers of tissue that line the body and organs and form glands), while others originate in epithelial tissue stem cells. All organs have the capacity for regeneration, which is done by adult stem cells located in areas of each organ called stem cell niches.
Using this knowledge, researchers were able to discover a novel stem cell niche for the ovarian surface epithelium in mice and showed that ovarian carcinoma preferentially originates from stem cells found in that niche, according to the study published March 6 in the journal Nature. This stem cell niche lies in a transitional area known as the hilum region, a layer of cells that links the ovary to the rest of the body.
"We now know where these cells are located in mice, so we can look in humans in those areas," said Alexander Nikitin, professor of pathology, leader of the Cornell Stem Cell Program and the paper's senior author. Andrea Flesken-Nikitin, a postdoctoral researcher in Nikitin's lab, is the paper's lead author.
Using the most current genetic research techniques, researchers were able to determine that stem cells from the hilum region were highly prone to ovarian carcinomas.
The technique "allows you to see the fate of stem cells over time," said Nikitin. Using the method on the hilum cells, "we showed that cells from the hilum area spread around the whole ovary."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone