Epithelial ovarian cancer has poor survival. There are no effective early detection strategies, and early disease symptoms are not specific to the disease (for example, bloating and frequent urination). The best available blood-based early detection biomarker for ovarian cancer is CA125, but this marker has limited ability to distinguish between women with the disease and those who are free of cancer.
This study will provide the necessary validation of a panel of microRNAs for EOC early detection. We will use serum samples from prospective cohorts and clinical studies. The objective is to validate a serologic miRNA panel that, together with CA125, would have sufficient diagnostic discrimination to be used as a tool that, together with imaging, would allow early diagnosis and direction of patients with suspected malignancy to personalized specialist care. We will:
• Validate serum miRNA profiles as biomarkers for early detection in samples collected from cases <=3 years prior to EOC diagnosis and matched controls, and characterize sources of variation in miRNA profiles.
• Evaluate miRNA profiles in the clinical setting and the discrimination between EOC cases and women with (i) benign ovarian tumors and (ii) underlying comorbidities (including other cancer types). Further, we will evaluate serum miRNA profiles as predictors of recurrence and will compare tumor tissue and serum miRNA profiles.
• Develop and optimize protocols for data integration and methods for algorithm development.
• Address Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (ELSA), including activities in key stakeholder groups. Challenges in health data privacy and sharing, including for development of an artificial intelligence model, will be addressed, as will the definition of a “healthy” population with respect to miRNA profiles for EOC.
In the second grant year, we have completed the following project tasks:
• Finalized an amended consortium agreement across the participating institutions due to a change in the coordinating institution.
• Implemented the assay methods for the miRNA assays using digital PCR (dPCR), with an optimized method for implementation in biobanked study samples successfully used in the study, and with assays still ongoing. This work was a major focus of grant year 2.
• Analysed, summarized and Initiated a manuscript on the pilot study completed as part of the assay optimization for the project.
• Continued ELSA activities, including addressing hallenges in cross-border data sharing. ELSA-related activities were planned included user-oriented outreach, organized together with health sociology colleagues at NTNU
• Hilde Langseth discussed the project in the Cancer Society 'tema cafe' in Asker Frivilligsenter for users, patients, and next of kin as part of our ELSA activities this year.
The project will finalize dPCR assays on study samples in the coming year, implement the data analysis and results dissemination, and with multiple ELSA-related activities in preparation.
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a lethal malignancy with poor survival. There are no effective early detection strategies, and early symptoms are vague. This study will provide validation of a miRNA panel for EOC early detection in serum samples from prospective cohorts, paired with clinical data and biospecimens. The project is organized as a consortium, where the collaborators are leading the Prospective Early Detection Consortium for Ovarian Cancer. We have used next generation sequencing to identify and validate a miRNA panel. The panel was developed and validated in patients with benign and malignant pelvic masses; and was further validated on a subset of patients and in silico. We have shown that the expression of circulating RNAs varies between healthy individuals and by age, sex, and lifestyle factors. Sources of variation in miRNA levels and the impact of confounders on discrimination between cases and non-cases must be evaluated. We plan to validate a serologic miRNA panel that, together with CA125, would have sufficient diagnostic discrimination for early-stage disease to be used clinically together with imaging, would allow early diagnosis and streaming of patients with suspected malignancy to personalized care. Toward that objective we will: -Validate serum miRNA profiles as biomarkers for EOC early detection in samples collected <=3 years before diagnosis and controls and characterize sources of variation in miRNA profiles. -Evaluate miRNA profiles in the clinical setting and the discrimination between EOC cases and (i) women with benign ovarian tumors in blood samples and (ii) women with underlying comorbidities. We will also evaluate miRNA profiles as predictors of recurrence and compare tumor tissue and serum miRNA profiles. -Develop and optimize protocols for data integration and methods for algorithm development and direct in silico validation. -Evaluate Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects (ELSA) of implementation in key stakeholder groups.
