Genetic alterations related to lymph node metastasis and peritoneal dissemination in epithelial ovarian cancers

Genetic alterations are assumed to be necessary for the development and progression of ovarian cancer. However, the genetic alterations that occur during lymph node metastasis and peritoneal dissemination are poorly understood. In the present study, we used comparative genomic hybridization to detect genetic alterations in 30 tumors from patients with primary ovarian cancers and analyzed the associations of these genetic alterations with clinical stage and surgical pathological factors, such as histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and peritoneal dissemination. The total number of genetic alterations per tumor ranged from 0 to 39, with an average of 17.7 alterations per tumor. Among the genetic alterations in ovarian cancers, gains on chromosomes 8q and 3q and losses on chromosomes 17p, 18q, and 4q were observed frequently. Although the difference in total numbers of genetic alterations between early-stage tumors and advanced-stage tumors was not significant, the difference was significant when high-grade cancers were compared with low-grade cancers. Eight regions on seven chromosomes showed genetic alterations related to lymph node metastasis or peritoneal dissemination. Gain at 11q13-q14 and loss at 17q11.2-q21 were related not only to lymph node metastasis and peritoneal dissemination but also to clinical stage and histological grade.