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  • Frequent Activating Mutatio...
    Kuo, Kuan-Ting; Mao, Tsui-Lien; Jones, Siân; Veras, Emanuela; Ayhan, Ayse; Wang, Tian-Li; Glas, Ruth; Slamon, Dennis; Velculescu, Victor E; Kuman, Robert J; Shih, Ie-Ming

    The American journal of pathology, 05/2009, Volume: 174, Issue: 5
    Journal Article

    Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) is one of the most malignant types of ovarian carcinomas, particularly at advanced stages. Unlike the more common type of ovarian cancer, high-grade serous carcinoma, ovarian CCC is often resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, and therefore an effective treatment for this tumor type at advanced stages is urgently needed. In this study, we analyzed 97 ovarian CCCs for sequence mutations in KRAS , BRAF , PIK3CA , TP53 , PTEN , and CTNNB1 as these mutations frequently occur in other major types of ovarian carcinomas. The samples included 18 CCCs for which affinity-purified tumor cells from fresh specimens were available, 69 microdissected tumors from paraffin tissues, and 10 tumor cell lines. Sequence mutations of PIK3CA , TP53 , KRAS , PTEN, CTNNB1 , and BRAF occurred in 33%, 15%, 7%, 5%, 3%, and 1% of CCC cases, respectively. Sequence analysis of PIK3CA in 28 affinity-purified CCCs and CCC cell lines showed a mutation frequency of 46%. Samples with PIK3CA mutations showed intense phosphorylated AKT immunoreactivity. These findings demonstrate that ovarian CCCs have a high frequency of activating PIK3CA mutations. We therefore suggest that the use of PIK3CA-targeting drugs may offer a more effective therapeutic approach compared with current chemotherapeutic agents for patients with advanced-stage and recurrent CCC.