Is comprehensive surgical staging needed for thorough evaluation of early-stage ovarian carcinoma?

Objective: Patients with ovarian cancer may have occult metastasis at the time of surgery. Our purpose was to determine the prevalence and sites of occult metastasis in epithelial ovarian cancer grossly confined to the ovary and examine the significance of routine omentectomy and peritoneal biopsies as part of a comprehensive staging procedure.

Study Design: Data were retrospectively abstracted from patients presenting to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Hospitals from 1993 through 2009 with ovarian cancer without gross spread beyond the ovary who underwent comprehensive surgical staging.

Improved survival in non-Ashkenazi Jewish ovarian cancer patients with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.

Objectives: Previous studies report a survival advantage in ovarian cancer patients with Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) breast cancer gene (BRCA) founder mutations. The purpose of this study was to determine if this association exists in patients with non-Ashkenazi Jewish (non-AJ) BRCA mutations. We also sought to account for "survival bias" by minimizing lead time that may exist between diagnosis and genetic testing.

Secondary cytoreductive surgery for recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

Objective: To determine the risks and benefits of secondary cytoreductive surgery for recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

Methods: Data were obtained retrospectively for all women with recurrent platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent a second debulking operation between 1998 and 2008 at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Survival analysis and comparisons were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox multivariate proportional hazards model.

Somatic LKB1 mutations promote cervical cancer progression.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the etiologic agent for cervical cancer. Yet, infection with HPV is not sufficient to cause cervical cancer, because most infected women develop transient epithelial dysplasias that spontaneously regress. Progression to invasive cancer has been attributed to diverse host factors such as immune or hormonal status, as no recurrent genetic alterations have been identified in cervical cancers.

Loss of Lkb1 provokes highly invasive endometrial adenocarcinomas.

Mutations in the LKB1 tumor suppressor gene result in the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, an autosomal dominant condition characterized by hamartomatous polyps of the gastrointestinal tract and a dramatically increased risk of epithelial malignancies at other sites, including the female reproductive tract. Here we show that female mice heterozygous for a null Lkb1 allele spontaneously develop highly invasive endometrial adenocarcinomas. To prove that these lesions were indeed due to Lkb1 inactivation, we introduced an adenoviral Cre vector into the uterine lumen of mice harboring a conditional allele of Lkb1.

Retrospective cohort study of surgical staging for ovarian low malignant potential tumors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the benefit of surgically staging ovarian low malignant potential tumors.

Study Design: This was a retrospective cohort study of all ovarian low malignant potential tumors that were diagnosed by frozen section or final pathologic review from 2003 to 2005.

Results: Twenty-two of 32 patients (69%) were staged surgically.