Background

Ovarian cancer is a devastating disease partly because conventional chemotherapy ignores aspects of tumour biology. Recurrence represents the “true killer” among ovarian cancer patients and identification of novel molecular markers present in recurrent tumours is urgently required. We carried out gene expression profiling between primary and recurrent ovarian cancers and identified potential biomarkers of recurrence.

Results

Using cDNA microarrays, we identified distinct patterns of gene expression between primary and recurrent ovarian cancers from different patients with the same histology and from the same patients with different histology. Selected targets were validated and correlated with microarray results. Signatures from both cohorts were also validated against an independent set of serous papillary ovarian adenocarcinomas. Notably, upregulated genes in the recurrent compared to primary tumours in both cohorts, segregated in the same gene families.

Conclusions

Collectively, our data propose an integrative model for recurrence in ovarian cancer, in which tumour cells during relapse produce adhesion molecules to mediate attachment, cytokines and inflammatory mediators to stimulate survival and a variety of growth factors bound to their cognate receptors to fully proliferate in order to confront and modulate their immediate environment. Some of the mechanisms involved in recurrence could be specific to the drugs used.

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