c-myc amplification in ovarian cancer

Abstract The c- myc oncogene codes for a DNA binding protein that appears to play an important role in the regulation of cell growth. c- myc gene amplification has been documented to occur in both hematopoietic and solid neoplasms and often indicates more biologically aggressive tumors. Southern hybridization analysis was performed on high-molecular-weight DNA isolated from primary ovarian carcinomas. Major structural rearrangements of c- myc were not detected. Five of seventeen (29.4%) tumor samples demonstrated amplification of the myc oncogene. The 5 patients with ovarian carcinomas associated with c- myc amplification exhibited a median survival of 17 months. Of the 12 patients without evidence of tumor-associated c- myc amplification, 5 have exhibited disease-free survival for an average of 36.8 months and are currently alive. The remaining 7 patients, the majority of whom had advanced-stage, poorly differentiated lesions with a normal c- myc copy number, exhibited a median survival of 9 months. There was no apparent relationship between c- myc amplification, grade of tumor differentiation, and response to platinol-based chemotherapy. These data do not suggest a prognostic role for c- myc amplification in primary ovarian cancer. However, c- myc amplification is a common finding in advanced-stage ovarian cancer.