Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer is a disease in which cancerous cells form in tissues of the ovaries, the female reproductive glands in which eggs are formed. The disease develops most often in women, ages 50 to 70. The most common form of ovarian cancer is ovarian epithelial cancer, a cancer that begins in the tissue that covers the ovaries.In 2008, an estimated 21,650 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 15,520 women died from the disease in the U.S. It is the eighth most common cancer in women and ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women.
Ovarian cancer can be difficult to diagnose. The first symptoms are sometimes subtle and are also common in women who do not have the disease. The disease is most often detected at an advanced stage, after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, thus making its treatment complicated.
Although reproductive, demographic and lifestyle factors affect risk of ovarian cancer, the single greatest risk factor is a family history of the disease. Inherited alterations in two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are significantly more susceptible to getting the disease, with lifetime risks of up to 40 percent in individuals carrying BRCA1 mutations and 20 percent for BRCA2 mutations. Patients carrying such mutations are at higher risk of ovarian cancer because BRCA plays a key role in repairing DNA damage that can result in the development of tumors. Individuals who carry mutations that impair BRCA function are thus predisposed toward transformation of normal tissues into cancerous ones. Women with mutated BRCA genes are also at considerably higher risk of breast cancer.
BiPar Sciences is evaluating iniparib (BSI-201) as a potential new targeted therapy for ovarian cancer.
For more information about BiPar Sciences' clinical trial, visit clinicaltrials.gov.
National Cancer Institute: "What You Need To Know About'´ Ovarian Cancer"
National Cancer Institute: "Genetics of Breast and Ovarian Cancer"
National Institutes of Health
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Cancer Society