Over half of advanced-stage ovarian cancer patients who appear to be disease-free after initial treatment develop recurrent disease. A binding protein responsible for ovarian cancer recurrence has been discovered by John Hopkins researchers, leading to a greater insight into why some women experience a quick and sometimes fatal recurrence of ovarian cancer after initial treatment. The NAC-1 protein was found in cancer tissue found of ovarian cancer patients who went on to experience recurrence within the same year. Researchers feel that this discovery, and testing for the binding protein, will allow oncologists to take treatment measures to block NAC-1 activity.
"Because recurrent cancers are often what really kill patients, and most ovarian cancer is diagnosed when it's already advanced, our findings offer women a better chance of catching or preventing recurrent disease early and increasing survival," stated Ie-Ming Shih, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
