Two scientific reviews have recently been published in high impact scientific journals as part of the ongoing collaboration within the GYNOCARE COST Action (CA18117), chaired by Prof Jean Calleja Agius from the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. GYNOCARE is a European network for Gynaecological Rare Cancer research: from Concept to Cure.
Ovarian cancers are among the most lethal forms of gynecological tumors. All ovarian malignancies mostly share the same problem: late diagnosis due to the lack of specific symptoms. Therefore, there is a perpetual need to discover better diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive biomarkers, as well as new therapeutic approaches.
Omics approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, can identify potential candidate biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and screening especially of rare gynaecological cancers and can aid in identifying therapeutic targets. The integration of multiple omics techniques using approaches such as proteogenomics can provide a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Further, omics approaches can provide clues towards developing immunotherapies, cancer recurrence, and drug resistance in tumors; and form a platform for personalized medicine.
Dr Yashwanth Subbannayya from the Centre of Molecular Inflammation Research, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway and Dr Silvana Urru from Trento General Hospital in Italy have collaborated with academics at the University of Malta, focusing on the application of omics approaches and integrative biology to gain a better understanding of rare ovarian cancers.
In recent years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained widespread attention because of their important role in various biological pathways. They have multiple mechanisms of action with an important role in many cellular processes related to the development and progression of ovarian cancers.
Another research project is being led by Croatian GYNOCARE COST members, namely Dr Maja Sabol and Dr Petar Ozretić from the Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer, Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. This article was co-authored by collaborators from Ireland and Turkey, who together with researchers from the University of Malta, highlighted the (in)distinctive role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in common and rare ovarian cancers.
The ‘Role of Omics Approaches to Characterize Molecular Mechanisms of Rare Ovarian Cancers: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.’ The article can be accessed here whilst the article ‘(In)Distinctive Role of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Common and Rare Ovarian Cancers.’ can be read in full here. More information about the GYNOCARE COST can be found on the official website.