New subtype of ovarian cancer of identified
Scientists at Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a subtype of ovarian cancer able to build its own blood vessels, suggesting that such tumors might be especially susceptible to “anti-angiogenic” drugs that block blood vessel formation. In a study published in the online journal PloS ONE, the investigators estimate that the subtype may account for a third of all serous ovarian cancers, a common cancer of the surface of the ovaries. The discovery of the subtype, made by analyzing data from the clinical records of more than 1,500 serous ovarian cancer patients and samples of their tumors, may spur clinical trials to determine if patients with the subtype can benefit from anti-angiogenic therapies now being tested in other cancers. “Unlike breast cancer, where we can distinguish different subtypes based on their genetic signatures, ovarian cancer has been viewed as a monolithically homogenous disease — each tumor very much like every other,” says...