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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1537407
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods of Tumor Diagnosis and Pivotal Gene Regulatory Mechanisms in Tumorigenesis and Development View all 5 articles

Immunomagnetic enrichment coupled to PAX8/TP53 molecular pathology approach increases sensitivity in the detection of ovarian cancer cells in ascites

Provisionally accepted
Ivana Kurelac Ivana Kurelac 1Manuela Sollazzo Manuela Sollazzo 2Monica De Luise Monica De Luise 1Francesca Nanetti Francesca Nanetti 1Laura Lanteri Laura Lanteri 1Luigi D'Angelo Luigi D'Angelo 2Beatrice Cavina Beatrice Cavina 1Simona Corrà Simona Corrà 1Stefano Miglietta Stefano Miglietta 2Sara Milioni Sara Milioni 2Elena Luppi Elena Luppi 1Luisa Iommarini Luisa Iommarini 2Stella Di Costanzo Stella Di Costanzo 3Anna Maria Ricciardi Anna Maria Ricciardi 3Sara Coluccelli Sara Coluccelli 3Thais Maloberti Thais Maloberti 3Marco Grillini Marco Grillini 3Camelia Alexandra Coada Camelia Alexandra Coada 3Anna Myriam Perrone Anna Myriam Perrone 1Pierandrea De Iaco Pierandrea De Iaco 1Dario de Biase Dario de Biase 4Moira Ragazzi Moira Ragazzi 5Giuseppe Gasparre Giuseppe Gasparre 1*Anna Maria Porcelli Anna Maria Porcelli 4*
  • 1 Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • 2 Dept. of Pharmacy and biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  • 3 IRCCS S.Orsola, Bologna, Italy
  • 4 University of Bologna, Dept. of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, Bologna, Italy
  • 5 IRCCS Local Health Authority of Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is one of the deadliest malignancies in female population and the cause of 70% of all ovarian cancer-related deaths. Among its hallmarks, the fluid accumulation in the peritoneal cavity, or ascites, is a peculiar pathological sign during late stages and in the recurrent patients. Besides cancer cells, ascitic fluids contain a heterogeneous cellular composition, representing a precious source to dissect molecular mechanisms underlying invasion and metastatization or find new biomarkers to predict therapy response. However, malignant cells are often a minority population in ascites making the detection and analysis of cancer cells a challenge. Here we propose a combinatorial approach for the detection of malignant cells in OC ascites based on TP53 deep sequencing and PAX8 cytological staining. In addition, we improve the procedure by implementing a cancer cell enrichment step, increasing the sensitivity in the detection of neoplastic fraction and potentiating downstream research and diagnostics applications.

    Keywords: ovarian cancer, Ascites, PAX8, TP53, Cancer cell enrichment

    Received: 30 Nov 2024; Accepted: 27 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Kurelac, Sollazzo, De Luise, Nanetti, Lanteri, D'Angelo, Cavina, Corrà, Miglietta, Milioni, Luppi, Iommarini, Di Costanzo, Ricciardi, Coluccelli, Maloberti, Grillini, Coada, Perrone, De Iaco, de Biase, Ragazzi, Gasparre and Porcelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Giuseppe Gasparre, Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40138, Italy
    Anna Maria Porcelli, University of Bologna, Dept. of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, Bologna, Italy

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