eLife (Jul 2016)

Diagnostic potential of tumor DNA from ovarian cyst fluid

  • Yuxuan Wang,
  • Karin Sundfeldt,
  • Constantina Mateoiu,
  • Ie-Ming Shih,
  • Robert J Kurman,
  • Joy Schaefer,
  • Natalie Silliman,
  • Isaac Kinde,
  • Simeon Springer,
  • Michael Foote,
  • Björg Kristjansdottir,
  • Nathan James,
  • Kenneth W Kinzler,
  • Nickolas Papadopoulos,
  • Luis A Diaz,
  • Bert Vogelstein

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.15175
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

Read online

We determined whether the mutations found in ovarian cancers could be identified in the patients' ovarian cyst fluids. Tumor-specific mutations were detectable in the cyst fluids of 19 of 23 (83%) borderline tumors, 10 of 13 (77%) type I cancers, and 18 of 18 (100%) type II cancers. In contrast, no mutations were found in the cyst fluids of 18 patients with benign tumors or non-neoplastic cysts. Though large, prospective studies are needed to demonstrate the safety and clinical utility of this approach, our results suggest that the genetic evaluation of cyst fluids might be able to inform the management of the large number of women with these lesions.

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