Mouse Models of Ovarian Cancer

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies among females in the world. It is this fact and the lack of symptoms and reliable clinical markers in the early stages of the disease that make studying ovarian cancer so important. Several mouse models have been generated and have proven to be quite valuable in understanding the mechanisms that underlie neoplasmic transformation, progression and metastasis of various other human cancers. However, currently there are only a few mouse models of ovarian cancer available. The proposed research aims to develop a new generation of mouse models of ovarian cancer. I will establish an inducible system to delete tumor suppressor genes specifically in the surface epithelium of the ovary where human ovarian tumors are thought to arise. The generation of such a mouse model will provide insight into the genetic and molecular alterations that take place in ovarian cancer. Likewise, they will ultimately be highly beneficial to the identification of early diagnostic markers, prognostic markers, and other genetic changes that could potentially be used for human ovarian cancer studies.