Association of malignant mesothelioma and asbestos related conditions with ovarian cancer: shared biomarkers and a possible etiological link?

Our plain-English summary of Association of malignant mesothelioma and asbestos related conditions with ovarian cancer: shared biomarkers and a possible etiological link?, by A.J. Rai, R.M. Flores (Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, 2011).

The study

• Authors: A.J. Rai, R.M. Flores
• Journal: Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
• Published: 2011;49(1):5-7
• Type of article: Comment, Editorial
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This editorial responded to a paper by Park et al. in the same journal issue, which suggested that benign asbestos-related pleural disease may share biomarkers with ovarian cancer. The authors compared malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer from biological and clinical perspectives. On the biological side, they summarised published gene expression and biomarker studies. These included one that identified 189 genes differentially expressed between ovarian cancer and mesothelioma effusions, with 13 validated by quantitative PCR. They also described work on MUC4, tenascin-X and folate receptor genes, and an intraperitoneal mouse tumour model expressing mesothelin. On the clinical side, they reported about 3,300 new mesothelioma cases and about 21,550 new ovarian cancer cases each year. The two tumours spread in similar sheet-like patterns with ascites or pleural fluid, look the same on imaging, and require biopsy to tell apart. WT-1 does not distinguish peritoneal mesothelioma from ovarian carcinoma. Ten-year ovarian cancer survival ranged from 84% (stage IA) to 11% (stage IIIC), while five-year mesothelioma survival was under 15%. Both are managed surgically by cytoreduction. The authors stated that mesothelioma is clearly linked to asbestos, while there is scant if any evidence linking asbestos to ovarian cancer. They concluded that the literature suggested a possible connection between mesothelioma and ovarian cancer subtypes. Extending this to benign asbestos-related conditions remained a hypothesis that was premature and needed further study.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article was an editorial, not an original study, and it reported no new data. The authors compared malignant mesothelioma with ovarian cancer, which they described as hard to tell apart under the microscope. They drew on earlier published research about biomarkers (markers measured in tumor tissue or fluid) and on clinical features such as how the tumors spread, staging and treatment. They wrote that they believed the data suggest some of the molecular underpinnings of the two diseases are shared. They also wrote that mesothelioma has been clearly linked to asbestos exposure, while only scant if any evidence supports an association between asbestos exposure and ovarian cancer. Commenting on a paper by Park and colleagues in the same journal issue, which suggested that benign asbestos-related pleural disease may share biomarkers with ovarian cancer, the authors said this remained a hypothesis that still lacked supporting data. The authors concluded that the published literature suggests a possible connection between malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer subtypes, but that extending the comparison to benign asbestos-related conditions is premature.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Editorial (opinion piece) comparing malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer using previously published biological and clinical research; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population. The editorial discussed published studies on mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, and commented on a paper by Park et al. in the same journal issue about people with benign asbestos-related pleural disease
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in general, discussed as the cause of mesothelioma; no fiber types, products, jobs or doses were specified
• Main results:
  • The authors stated their belief that published data suggest some molecular features of malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer are shared
  • The authors wrote that mesothelioma is clearly linked to asbestos exposure, but only scant if any evidence supports an association between asbestos exposure and ovarian cancer
  • The authors considered the suggestion that benign asbestos-related pleural disease shares biomarkers with ovarian cancer to be still a hypothesis, with data and supporting evidence lacking
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the published literature suggests a possible connection between malignant mesothelioma and ovarian cancer subtypes, but that applying this to benign asbestos-related conditions and ovarian cancer is still premature and needs further study

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Ovarian cancer.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Ovarian Cancer, Biomarker, Asbestos-Related Pleural Disease, Mesothelin, Ascites, Biopsy, Wilms Tumor 1 (WT-1).

Related studies

• Evaluation of ovarian cancer biomarkers in subjects with benign asbestos-related pleural diseases — E.K. Park, A.R. Johnson, et al. (2011)
• Spatial Analysis of Shared Risk Factors between Pleural and Ovarian Cancer Mortality in Lombardy (Italy) — G. Stoppa, C. Mensi, et al. (2022)
• Assessing Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Solid Tumors: A Practical Review for Pathologists and Proposal for a Standardized Method from the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers Working Group: Part 2: TILs in Melanoma, Gastrointestinal Tract Carcinomas, Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma and Mesothelioma, Endometrial and Ovarian Carcinomas, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck, Genitourinary Carcinomas, and Primary Brain Tumors — S. Hendry, R. Salgado, et al. (2017)
• Possible role of ovarian epithelial inflammation in ovarian cancer — R.B. Ness, C. Cottreau (1999)
• OV632 as a possible marker for malignant mesothelioma: high expectations; low specificity — A. Abati, P.A. Fetsch (1995)
• Pre-diagnostic serum levels of inflammation markers and risk of ovarian cancer in the prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer (PLCO) screening trial — B. Trabert, L. Pinto, et al. (2014)

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