Researchers have discovered that overproduction of a gene called Rsf-1 may play a crucial role in the development of ovarian cancer, and might explain why some forms of this cancer are more deadly than others. Tian-Li Wang of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the senior author of the study, and her colleagues analyzed tissues from seven ovarian cancer samples, using a technique called digital karyotyping to identify “sub-chromosomal alterations."They found “genetic amplification” -- or overproduction of the Rsf-1 gene, located on chromosome 11 -- in 13.2 percent of the most aggressive forms of ovarian cancer but not in any of the low-grade ovarian cancers."The gene Rsf-1 replicates a lot on chromosome 11, and that is associated with a more aggressive cancer,” said Wang, whose study appears in Sept. 27 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “It’s more aggressive and patients have a worse outcome.”
