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Updated: Jun 24, 2025
Modeling the Early Steps of Ovarian Cancer Dissemination in an Organotypic Culture of the Human Peritoneal Cavity
Published on: December 31, 2015
Tumour microenvironment characterisation to stratify patients for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in
S Lot Aronson1,2, Cédric Walker3,4, Bram Thijssen5,6
1Center for Gynecologic Oncology Amsterdam, Department of Gynecologic Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Background:
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) improves survival in patients with Stage III ovarian cancer following interval cytoreductive surgery (CRS). Optimising patient selection is essential to maximise treatment efficacy and avoid overtreatment. This study aimed to identify biomarkers that predict HIPEC benefit by analysing gene signatures and cellular composition of tumours from participants in the OVHIPEC-1 trial.
Methods:
Whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing data were retrieved from high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) samples from 147 patients obtained during interval CRS. We performed differential gene expression analysis and applied deconvolution methods to estimate cell-type proportions in bulk mRNA data, validated by histological assessment. We tested the interaction between treatment and potential predictors on progression-free survival using Cox proportional hazards models.
Results:
While differential gene expression analysis did not yield any predictive biomarkers, the cellular composition, as characterised by deconvolution, indicated that the absence of macrophages and the presence of B cells in the tumour microenvironment are potential predictors of HIPEC benefit. The histological assessment confirmed the predictive value of macrophage absence.
Conclusion:
Immune cell composition, in particular macrophages absence, may predict response to HIPEC in HGSOC and these hypothesis-generating findings warrant further investigation.
Clinical Trial Registration:
NCT00426257.
