Homologous recombination and ovarian cancer: role of developing a functional assay
Year: 2009
Session type: Poster / e-Poster / Silent Theatre session
Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University, UK
Abstract
Background
10-15% of epithelial ovarian cancers (EOCs) have mutations in BRCA 1/2 genes rendering them deficient in homologous recombination (HR). PARP inhibitors have been shown to be synthetically lethal in BRCA deficient cancers and clinical trials are currently evaluating the role of PARP inhibitors in this group of patients. However, up to 30% of EOCs could be deficient in HR due to epigenetic silencing of BRCA 1 or 2 or other genetic or epigenetic defects in other HR genes. Therefore there is a potential of extending the use of PARP inhibitors to these patients if HR status can be identified.
Aim
To develop a functional assay to predict HR status in primary cultures of EOCs and correlate with sensitivity to PARP inhibitors.
Method
Primary cultures were developed from ascitic fluid from patients with EOCs.