Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 3, 2026

A Human Fallopian Tube Model for Investigation of C. trachomatis Infections
Published on: August 11, 2012
Serologic evidence of past infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, in relation to ovarian cancer
Roberta B Ness1, Marc T Goodman, Caixia Shen
1Graduate School of Public Health and Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Street, 517 Parran Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. repro@pitt.edu
Abstract:
Pelvic inflammatory disease has been inconsistently linked with ovarian cancer. We measured antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis, to chlamydial heat shock protein (CHSP) 60, and to CHSP10, in 117 women with ovarian cancer and in 171 age- and ethnicity-matched population-based control subjects from Oahu, Hawaii. IgG antibodies to serovar D of chlamydia elementary bodies (EB) and IgG antibodies to CHSP60-1, CHSP60-2, CHSP60-3, and CHSP10 were detected using an ELISA assay. The probability of having ovarian cancer was 90% greater in women with the highest, compared with the lowest (optical density, >or =0.40 vs. <0.10), levels of chlamydia-EB antibodies (P=.05). There was also a monotonic trend (P=.09) in ovarian cancer risk associated with CHSP60-1 but not with CHSP60-2, CHSP60-3, or CHSP10. These data suggest that past or chronic persistent infection with chlamydia may be a risk factor for ovarian cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Oogenesis
Toxoplasmosis
Trichomoniasis

