OvaPrint—A Cell-free DNA Methylation Liquid Biopsy for the Risk Assessment of High-grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

David N. Buckley, Juan Pablo Lewinger, Gerald Gooden, Monique Spillman, Monica Neuman, X. Mona Guo, Ben Yi Tew, Heather Miller, Varun U. Khetan, Lee P. Shulman, Lynda Roman, Bodour Salhia*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is the most lethal epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and is often diagnosed at late stage. In women with a known pelvic mass, surgery followed by pathologic assessment is the most reliable way to diagnose EOC and there are still no effective screening tools in asymptomatic women. In the current study, we developed a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation liquid biopsy for the risk assessment of early-stage HGSOC. Experimental Design: We performed reduced representation bisulfite sequencing to identify differentially methylated regions (DMR) between HGSOC and normal ovarian and fallopian tube tissue. Next, we performed hybridization probe capture for 1,677 DMRs and constructed a classifier (OvaPrint) on an independent set of cfDNA samples to discriminate HGSOC from benign masses. We also analyzed a series of non-HGSOC EOC, including low-grade and borderline samples to assess the generalizability of OvaPrint. A total of 372 samples (tissue n ¼ 59, plasma n ¼ 313) were analyzed in this study. Results: OvaPrint achieved a positive predictive value of 95% and a negative predictive value of 88% for discriminating HGSOC from benign masses, surpassing other commercial tests. OvaPrint was less sensitive for non-HGSOC EOC, albeit it may have potential utility for identifying low-grade and borderline tumors with higher malignant potential. Conclusions: OvaPrint is a highly sensitive and specific test that can be used for the risk assessment of HGSOC in symptomatic women. Prospective studies are warranted to validate OvaPrint for HGSOC and further develop it for non-HGSOC EOC histotypes in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women with adnexal masses.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5196-5206
Number of pages11
JournalClinical Cancer Research
Volume29
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 15 2023

Funding

M. Spillman reports grants from TGEN during the conduct of the study, as well as other support from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Texas Oncology outside the submitted work. L. Roman reports grants from Wright Family Foundation during the conduct of the study, as well as personal fees and other support from Global Coalition for Adaptive Research outside the submitted work. B. Salhia reports other support from CpG Diagnostics during the conduct of the study, as well as personal fees from AstraZeneca outside the submitted work; in addition, B. Salhia has a patent for Cell-Free DNA Methylation Test #18/546,472 pending and licensed to CpG Diagnostics Inc. No disclosures were reported by the other authors. This project was funded by a grant from the Wright Foundation (B. Salhia, J.P. Lewinger, H. Miller) and by the Swing Against Cancer Fund at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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