An international scientific team led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has found that the elevated levels of certain proteins typically associated with keeping cancer cells alive may actually correspond with improved patient survival in ovarian cancer. These proteins, all members of cellular networks that regulate apoptosis (programmed cell death) and responses to stress together form a prognostic protein signature that provides key information about the tumor. If additional research verifies these findings, clinicians may be able to use this protein signature to gauge the aggressiveness of a woman’s ovarian tumor at the time of diagnosis, as well as to identify patients who could benefit from various therapies. The findings are published in the November 15, 2007, issue of Clinical Cancer Research.
