91直播

University of Manchester researchers have shown that analysis of fluid flushed through a fallopian tube holds promise for providing insights into molecular changes linked to early ovarian cancer development.

 The analysis 鈥� featured in the journal Clinical and translational medicine  鈥� revealed molecular signals that in one case prompted re-examination of archived fallopian tube tissue and led to the retrospective identification of a pre-invasive or very early cancerous lesion. 

鈥淭his is important as it is now known most ovarian cancers don鈥檛 start in the ovary itself. Instead, they start from pre-cancer lesions which develop in the fallopian tube before spreading to the ovary and beyond,鈥� said Dr Christine Schmidt, Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester鈥檚 Division of Cancer Sciences. 

The findings from the  study could in the longer term  form the basis for future approaches aimed at informing ovarian cancer risk assessment and  contributinge to less invasive interventions for some high-risk women. 

Surgery to remove the tubes and ovaries is often currently used to reduce risk for high-risk women. 

However, the study raises the prospect of delaying  risk-reducing surgery for some women, preserving their fertility. 

This could be particularly beneficial for the women in the UK who are at high genetic risk of ovarian cancer because they carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.

Though uncommon in women with an average risk, existing shows that roughly half to three-quarters of women with a high genetic risk of ovarian cancer currently choose surgical removal of the ovaries.

Despite evidence suggesting a prolonged window between pre-cancer lesions inside the fallopian tube and more serious cancer in the ovaries and other tissues, there are currently no clinical tests available to help detect these early pre-cancer changes without invasive surgery.

However, the team in 91直播 have shown that fluid washed through the inside of the fallopian tube could be used to test for broad patterns of molecular changes associated with early tumour development using a technique known as proteomic analysis.

The researchers used the approach in an exploratory study of the fallopian tubes of 27 women who had had them surgically removed.

The women were divided into different groups. The first group were either high-risk BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation carriers or they had an abnormal ovarian growth. A second group had other gynaecological conditions unrelated to ovarian cancer.

The researchers took the samples from the soft, frilly, finger-like edge at the open end of the tube next to the ovary known as the fimbriae.

They were able to detect different patterns of proteins in the washes from high-risk fallopian tubes and tubes associated with ovarian cancer compared to normal.

Some of these proteins overlap with previously proposed biomarkers for advanced disease stages and some may form the basis for future exploratory studies to identify potential targets for ovarian cancer prevention.

Dr Schmidt added: 鈥淲hile further exploration and validation in larger cohorts is needed, our findings point to a promising direction for less invasive ovarian cancer risk management strategies that could 鈥� in the longer term 鈥�  help reduce reliance on invasive prophylactic surgeries while preserving fertility in some high-risk women.鈥�

鈥淲e look forward to taking this novel approach forwards and hope that one day the findings can contribute to the development of an approach that cmight eventuallyan be used in the clinic.鈥�

• The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection (ACED) programme.
• The  paper, Fallopian tube lavage sampling towards early detection of pre-invasive ovarian cancer, is available