A University of Alberta research team has found a potential new treatment target for ovarian cancer. Their new research is the first to comprehensively investigate the elevated expression of a gene called ZIC2 in ovarian cancer cells, finding that it is associated with poor survival rates of ovarian cancer patients and testing ways to inactivate the gene.
Ovarian cancer is predicted to kill an estimated 2,000 women in Canada this year, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. About a quarter of ovarian cancer cases show elevated levels of ZIC2 protein in the cancer cells. ZIC2 protein is produced by the ZIC2 gene, which normally is responsible for human brain development in the embryonic stage and then remains inactive in adults except in the brain and testis. It is not understood why the gene gets reactivated in ovarian cancer with such deadly results.
"Currently, there's no effective treatment for ovarian cancer," says YangXin Fu, associate professor of experimental oncology and adjunct associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology. "Also, ovarian cancer cases are often diagnosed at a late stage and by that time, even with surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer recurs and becomes resistant to chemotherapy.
