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New Discovery To Treat Ovarian Cancer

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer kills almost 15000 women everyday in the World and this is one kind of cancer which is always diagnosed at a later stage. Scientists at the Ovarian Cancer Institute of Technology at Georgia have now introduced a new discovery which can reverse the life cycle of the Cancer tumour and make it less severe, thus, making Chemotherapy more effective.

The scientists have found that a type of ribonucleic acid (RNA) can reverse the cycle of the cancer tumour to it's early stages and help medicines and treatment work better on the tumour. Some test have also proved that the RNA called miR-429 can also help in converting the cancer cells to a non evasive form.

"Most cancer patients succumb because the cancer metastasizes, and current chemotherapy are not designed to kill metastasizing cancer cells," said John F. McDonald, of the Integrated Cancer Research Center in Georgia Tech's School of Biology.

Cancer cells are of two forms – Epithelial cells and Mesenchymal cells. To conclude the new discovery in Ovarian Cancer study, the scientists took these two lines of cancer cells. The scientists used miR-429 on the Mesenchymal cells to see if it made any difference. It was noticed that it converted the Mesenchymal cells into Epithelial cells, thus, proving the new discovery in the Ovarian Cancer study right.

"We found that when we introduced miR-429 into the highly metastatic ovarian cancer cells, they became less invasive, less migratory and more like the cancer cells associated with primary tumours," said McDonald.

Story first published: Monday, February 7, 2011, 15:24 [IST]