Ovary Cancer

Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetic Testing

Pioneer in Embryo Genetic Testing and Gender Selection

- Cancer Prevention -

Cancer of the Ovary

Ovarian cancer seems to be more and more frequently diagnosed. There may be two factors involved. The incidence of ovarian cancer may be truly increasing but, on the other hand, the reports may be influenced by the development of better diagnostic tools to find the cancer of the ovary.

The genetics became more and more involved in investigating malignancies, inclusive of ovarian cancer. It was found that most cases of inherited ovarian cancer are linked to mutations in either the BRCA1 gene or the BRCA2 gene. The latest estimates claim that the lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is 1.5% in the general population. However, women carrying mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have the lifetime risk increased to 20% to 40%. Available technology can be used to investigate any given female for presence or absence of these cancers markers. If BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 are present, the woman should be much more observant of signs of ovarian cancer and use all available diagnostic means for early detection of the malignancy.

The clinical cause of the ovarian cancer depends most importantly on timeliness of the discovery. That usually determines the therapy, which includes surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy individually or in various combinations. However, the results of the treatment are still not satisfactory.

Another dilemma for a female with positive BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 markers is to consider the risk of transferring the genetic changes to their children. Naturally, the sons of women with ovarian cancer cannot develop the disease. On the other hand, the daughters will face a high risk of inheritance of the predisposition and eventually may develop the ovarian cancer.

Through recent advances in reproductive technologies the embryo resulting from an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process can be examined by Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) technique. By transferring only male embryos into the uterus of the mother, the transfer of a dreadful disease from generation to generation may be interrupted.

The In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedure is done in the same manner as being done for infertile patients. After the eggs are recovered, they are fertilized with the father’s sperm and they start dividing. The resulting embryos, at certain stage of the development, have a single cell removed and tested for sex chromosomes using the Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) technique. Embryos carrying both X and Y chromosomes, indicating a male gender, are then transferred into the mother’s uterus.

The procedure is time consuming, fairly expensive and far from the “old fashioned” ways to have a baby, but the assurance that you will have a child that will not develop cancer of the ovaries is certainly worth all the above.

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