Similarities and differences in gene expression profiles of methylated and mutated epithelial ovarian cancers.

INTRODUCTION

methylated () epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a recently defined and not well-investigated subset of neoplasms. To date, no studies have focused on the transcriptional profiles of cases, and, as a matter of fact, we still do not know if this subset of EOCs is similar, and to what extent, to mutated () cases.

METHODS

We compared a group of 17 cases against 10 cases using a subset of carefully selected 17 EOCs as a control group.

RESULTS

First, cases showed a downregulation of the relative transcript, while this association was not observed for EOCs. The group exhibited a general upregulation of homologous recombination (HR)-related genes, as well as . Overall, had a different gene expression profile, characterized by diffuse downregulation, whereas showed a general upregulation (p < 0.0001). Both -defective groups showed a slightly activated immune response mediated by interferon (IFN) gamma pathways.

DISCUSSION

In conclusion, even if the expression profile of many genes related to DNA damage and repair system is shared between and EOCs supporting that EOCs may benefit from PARPi therapies, our data demonstrate that and EOCs show different expression profiles, suggesting a different mechanism of carcinogenesis that can be reflected in different responses to therapies and disease recovery.