title: c-myc amplification in ovarian cancer.
abstract: The c-myc oncogene codes for a DNA binding protein that appears to play an important role in the regulation of cell growth. c-myc gene amplification has been documented to occur in both hematopoietic and solid neoplasms and often indicates more biologically aggressive tumors. Southern hybridization analysis was performed on high-molecular-weight DNA isolated from primary ovarian carcinomas. Major structural rearrangements of c-myc were not detected. Five of seventeen (29.4%) tumor samples demonstrated amplification of the myc oncogene. The 5 patients with ovarian carcinomas associated with c-myc amplification exhibited a median survival of 17 months. Of the 12 patients without evidence of tumor-associated c-myc amplification, 5 have exhibited disease-free survival for an average of 36.8 months and are currently alive. The remaining 7 patients, the majority of whom had advanced-stage, poorly differentiated lesions with a normal c-myc copy number, exhibited a median survival of 9 months. There was no apparent relationship between c-myc amplification, grade of tumor differentiation, and response to platinol-based chemotherapy. These data do not suggest a prognostic role for c-myc amplification in primary ovarian cancer. However, c-myc amplification is a common finding in advanced-stage ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294.
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Borst
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Shingleton
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003536:Cystadenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D016259:Genes, myc; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*