NOVEL STRATEGIES FOR OVARIAN CANCER PREVENTION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Advances in ovarian cancer research are limited by a failure to understand the etiology of the disease. In large part this is due to the absence of a natural model for epithelial ovarian cancerthe predominant form affecting womenand an inability for most animal systems to accurately reflect the normal biological factors that have been associated with ovarian cancer risk (namely age and ovarian function). As a result, the development of preventive strategies is limited by an inability to identify appropriate risk factors. We have utilized gene expression studies to identify changes in gene expression found in cultured ovarian cells from women with versus without a family history of the disease, and the rhesus model will be used to evaluate methods of altering gene expression in these "at risk" cells as a means to prevent ovarian cancer in women with a family history of the disease. In addition, we will use the nonhuman primate as a model to test whether the source of most ovarian cancers, the ovarian surface epithelium, may be eliminated using mild detergent to permanently reduce ovarian cancer risk. Current studies indicate that the surface epithelium does not regrow within 6 months of removal via deteregent.