Defects in TGFß molecular pathway involved in ovarian cancer

Andrew Shelling

Dr Andrew Shelling recently identified the Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGFß) pathway to be the one molecular pathway that plays an important role in the early development of ovarian cancer.  Most of the ovarian tumours investigated by Dr Shelling’s team show a defect in this pathway at some point. 

Dr Shelling believes that the pathway of genes act as a functional unit, and mutations in any one subunit could lead to disruption of the pathway and a loss of cell cycle control.  He recently found that mutations in the TGFß pathway occur primarily in the TGFßRII, and these mutations appear to be mutually exclusive to mutations in the p53 pathway.  TGFßRII mutations often occur in clear cell carcinomas, and this may help to understand how this uncommon – and often fatal – tumour develops.  Dr Shelling’s team also found there are several other ways that the TGFß pathway can be disrupted in the development of ovarian cancer, and that replacing the defective part of the pathway returns the cancer cells to normality.  This opens up many new opportunities for targeting new treatments.

To read the full article in pdf format, please click A Shelling Ovarian Cancer.pdf

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