Charles Landen, MD
About Project
Detection of early-stage ovarian cancer through vaginal sampling
PROJECT SUMMARY
It turns out that many ovarian cancers originate in the fallopian tube, and that recognizable premalignant cells exist in the tubal lining. This is both an opportunity and a problem. The opportunity is that these premalignant cells exist, so they can potentially be detected before the disease becomes unmanageable. The problem is that these cells are in the hard to reach fallopian tubes. Dr. Landen’s lab has shown that DNA from intraperitoneal ovarian cancer cells can be detected in the discharge collected on a tampon specimen after being placed overnight in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Now, his team is performing experiments to see if this noninvasive method can be used for the early detection of ovarian cancer, or even premalignant, stages of the disease. They also hope to refine the sensitivity of the method for detecting late stage ovarian cancer by utilizing a novel mass spectrometry methodology.
