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Ovarian cancer risk and mesothelin (MSLN) antigen levels

August 23rd, 2011 | Add a Comment

Until now, early detection of ovarian cancer risk still see many obstacles, making it difficult for physicians to perform preventive treatment to suspected patients.

The impact of all this, the risk of death from ovarian cancer is quite high.

However, from a recent findings that published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention on August 16, 2011, the researchers found that mesothelin (MSLN), a 40kDa protein that form a tumor in mesothelial cells, could be a biormarker of ovarian cancer occurrence.

Although the findings require additional research to find out more, but this discovery could help the health practitioners to give more attention to their patients who had experienced with premature ovarian failure and/or a reduction on ovarian function to the risk of ovarian cancer.

According to study authors, in women with prematurely reduced ovarian function, such as with ovulatory dysfunction, ovarian failure, and unexplained infertility, are significantly found mesothelin antibodies (59%, 44%, 25%, respectively) compared with a control group.

This is in contrast to women with endometriosis who don’t have the mesothelin antibodies, although they are also at higher risk of ovarian cancer.

In other words, the results of this study support established suggestion that infertility woman linked to increased risk of ovarian cancer, which also has similar characteristic in women who have an autoimmune disease of the ovary or having antiovarian antibodies.

The study involved 109 women with infertility, 28 women with ovarian cancer, 24 women with benign ovarian tumors or cysts, and 152 healthy women.
Among those categorized as infertility, they were 25 women with the risk of premature ovarian failure, 23 women to the risk of ovarian cancer endometriosis, 17 women with ovulatory dysfunction, and 44 women with unexplained infertility.

Overall, compared with healthy women, the mesothelin antigen levels in infertility women, and those with ovarian cancer and benign ovarian tumors or cysts are higher.