title: Ovarian cancer: can proteomics give new insights for therapy and diagnosis?
abstract: The study of the ovarian proteomic profile represents a new frontier in ovarian cancer research, since this approach is able to enlighten the wide variety of post-translational events (such as glycosylation and phosphorylation). Due to the possibility of analyzing thousands of proteins, which could be simultaneously altered, comparative proteomics represent a promising model of possible biomarker discovery for ovarian cancer detection and monitoring. Moreover, defining signaling pathways in ovarian cancer cells through proteomic analysis offers the opportunity to design novel drugs and to optimize the use of molecularly targeted agents against crucial and biologically active pathways. Proteomic techniques provide more information about different histological types of ovarian cancer, cell growth and progression, genes related to tumor microenvironment and specific molecular targets predictive of response to chemotherapy than sequencing or microarrays. Estimates of specificity with proteomics are less consistent, but suggest a new role for combinations of biomarkers in early ovarian cancer diagnosis, such as the OVA1 test. Finally, the definition of the proteomic profiles in ovarian cancer would be accurate and effective in identifying which pathways are differentially altered, defining the most effective therapeutic regimen and eventually improving health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology & Haematology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena 41125, Italy. hbc@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toss
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Matteis
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Lara Della
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Casa
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iannone
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cortesi
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005260:Female; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D024522:Genes, BRCA2; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D020543:Proteome