[An analysis of oncogene activation in ovarian carcinoma].

Evidence is increasing that oncogenes are involved in the development and/or progression of gynecological malignancies including ovarian carcinoma. While histopathologic examination remains an indispensable tool in the diagnosis and evaluation of patients with ovarian carcinoma, the advancement of technology and the development of new knowledge regarding neoplastic transformation are providing a basis for new opportunities to improve patients care. In this review, a variety of techniques to study the abnormalities of oncogenes, especially of c-myc oncogenes in clinical specimens of human ovarian malignancies are reviewed. Emphasis in placed on whether the techniques are feasible in routine clinical laboratories and have potential values to the care of patients with ovarian carcinoma. At this juncture, an examination of c-myc oncogene abnormalities at the DNA level appears to have a greater potentials in the field described above than those at mRNA and protein levels.