You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Basic Science
Loss of ARID1A-Associated Protein Expression is a Frequent Event in Clear Cell and Endometrioid Ovarian Cancers
  1. William J. Lowery, MD*,
  2. Joellen M. Schildkraut, PhD†,
  3. Liudmila Akushevich†,
  4. Rex Bentley, MD‡,
  5. Jeffrey R. Marks, PhD§,
  6. David Huntsman, MD∥ and
  7. Andrew Berchuck, MD*,†
  1. * Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
  2. † Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina;
  3. ‡ Department of Pathology,
  4. § Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; and
  5. ∥ British Columbia Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
  1. Address correspondence and reprint requests to William J. Lowery, MD, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3079, Durham NC 27710. E-mail: william.lowery{at}duke.edu.

Abstract

Background Inactivating somatic mutations in the ARID1A gene are described in a significant fraction of clear cell and endometrioid ovarian cancers leading to loss of the corresponding protein (BAF250a). Expression of BAF250a was examined in clear cell and endometrioid cancers accrued as part of the North Carolina Ovarian Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study, to determine whether loss of expression is associated with clinical and epidemiological features.

Methods Immunostaining for BAF250a was performed using 212 clear cell and endometrioid ovarian cancers. Associations between loss of BAF250a and clinical and epidemiological features were examined. Variables were analyzed by logistic regression.

Results Loss of BAF250a expression was noted in 96 (45%) of 212 cancers: 34 (41%) of 82 clear cell cases and 62 (48%) of 130 endometrioid cases. There was no relationship between the loss of BAF250a and stage, grade, survival, or epidemiological variables.

Conclusions These data confirm that loss of the ARID1A-encoded protein BAF250a is a frequent event in the genesis of clear cell and endometrioid ovarian cancers. Loss of BAF250a was not associated with clinical or epidemiologic characteristics. One explanation for these findings is that inactivation of the chromatin remodeling pathway may be a requisite event in the development of these cancers.

  • ARID1A
  • BAF250A
  • Clear cell ovarian cancer
  • Endometrioid ovarian cancer
  • Endometriosis associated ovarian cancer

https://doi.org/10.1097/IGC.0b013e318231f140

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Footnotes

    • The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.