Profiling mucinous ovarian cancer and comparisons with tumours of the gastro-intestinal tract: identification of markers for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment targets.
type: CreativeWork
description: Mucinous Ovarian Carcinoma (MOC) is a rare histological subtype, comprising 3-4% of all epithelial ovarian cancers. The majority (~80%) of patients are diagnosed at early stage, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO I/II), with a good prognosis after primary surgery. The key clinical challenges in MOC are: 1) identifying which patients with Stage I MOC are at risk of relapse and require adjuvant chemotherapy; 2) accurately diagnosing primary MOC from a cancer that has started elsewhere and spread to the ovary, most commonly from a gastrointestinal (GI) site; and 3) finding better treatment options for patients with advanced stage (III/IV) MOC. Using the international Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium, this thesis sought to address these issues. Samples and data were pooled through the consortium for 3 projects: an immunohistochemistry (IHC) study on tissue microarrays examining the role of SATB2 in improving diagnosis of MOC (n=314) from colorectal and appendiceal tumours (n=230); a NanoString mRNA gene expression profiling study of mucinous ovarian borderline tumours (n=151), primary MOC (n=333), and upper (pancreatic/gastric, n=65)) and lower (colorectal/appendiceal, n=55) tumours to look for prognostic and diagnostic markers; thirdly a multicolour IHC and immune fluorescence project to quantify the immune infiltrate in MOC (n=124), assessing whether immune therapies are worth exploring for patients. In addition, an international commercial tumour profiling dataset was analysed with IHC and mutation data to examine profiles of MOC (n=295) and compare with publicly available GI profiles to look for shared treatment targets. I found that the addition of SATB2 in combination with CK7 was highly sensitive and specific in differentiating primary MOC from colorectal and appendiceal metastases, and made recommendations for clinical diagnostic practice. I confirmed that an infiltrative pattern of invasion in Stage I MOC is prognostic within th…
abstract: Mucinous Ovarian Carcinoma (MOC) is a rare histological subtype, comprising 3-4% of all epithelial ovarian cancers. The majority (~80%) of patients are diagnosed at early stage, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO I/II), with a good prognosis after primary surgery. The key clinical challenges in MOC are: 1) identifying which patients with Stage I MOC are at risk of relapse and require adjuvant chemotherapy; 2) accurately diagnosing primary MOC from a cancer that has started elsewhere and spread to the ovary, most commonly from a gastrointestinal (GI) site; and 3) finding better treatment options for patients with advanced stage (III/IV) MOC. Using the international Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium, this thesis sought to address these issues. Samples and data were pooled through the consortium for 3 projects: an immunohistochemistry (IHC) study on tissue microarrays examining the role of SATB2 in improving diagnosis of MOC (n=314) from colorectal and appendiceal tumours (n=230); a NanoString mRNA gene expression profiling study of mucinous ovarian borderline tumours (n=151), primary MOC (n=333), and upper (pancreatic/gastric, n=65)) and lower (colorectal/appendiceal, n=55) tumours to look for prognostic and diagnostic markers; thirdly a multicolour IHC and immune fluorescence project to quantify the immune infiltrate in MOC (n=124), assessing whether immune therapies are worth exploring for patients. In addition, an international commercial tumour profiling dataset was analysed with IHC and mutation data to examine profiles of MOC (n=295) and compare with publicly available GI profiles to look for shared treatment targets. I found that the addition of SATB2 in combination with CK7 was highly sensitive and specific in differentiating primary MOC from colorectal and appendiceal metastases, and made recommendations for clinical diagnostic practice. I confirmed that an infiltrative pattern of invasion in Stage I MOC is prognostic within th…
author: Meagher, Nicki ; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9134-2118
language: en
keywords: Ovarian Cancer, Biomarkers, Tumour profiling, anzsrc-for: 3211 Oncology and carcinogenesis, anzsrc-for: 321502 Obstetrics and gynaecology, anzsrc-for: 4202 Epidemiology
license: https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
date published: 2022
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:34:44Z
provider: University of New South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: UNSW, Sydney

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/100735

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.26190/unsworks/24442