Genetically predicted circulating protein biomarkers and ovarian cancer risk

Abstract Objective Most women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) are diagnosed after the disease has metastasized and survival in this group remains poor. Circulating proteins associated with the risk of developing EOC have the potential to serve as biomarkers for early detection and diagnosis. We integrated large-scale genomic and proteomic data to identify novel plasma proteins associated with EOC risk. Methods We used the germline genetic variants most strongly associated (P  Results We identified 26 proteins whose genetically predicted circulating levels were associated with EOC risk at false discovery rate  Conclusion The identified proteins further illuminate the etiology of EOC and represent promising new EOC biomarkers for targeted validation by studies involving direct measurement of plasma proteins in EOC patient cohorts.