Gene expression determinants of ovarian cancer platinum-response in older women

22059 Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, and more than half of new ovarian cancer cases arise in women over age 65. Although older women with EOC have poorer overall prognosis compared to younger women, the exact molecular basis to this difference remains unclear. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of advanced stage EOC in older women and identify genes associated with chemo-response in older women such that therapy may be tailored to individual patients. Methods: We performed Affymetrix microarray gene expression analysis on 122 primary advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancers resected from 73 younger ( 65 years) women. For each age group, gene expression data was compared using Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM), between patients who demonstrated a complete-response (>65 years, n=38; 65 years, n=11; <65 years, n=25) to primary...