Molecular detection of tumour DNA in serum and peritoneal fluid from ovarian cancer patients

We have analysed DNA extracted from the serum and peritoneal fluid of 20 ovarian cancer patients for the presence of tumour-specific genetic alterations. The 20 patients included six with stage la disease. Using six polymorphic microsatellite loci we were able to detect (sic) alleles or loss of heterozygosity in 17/20 serum samples and 12/19 peritoneal fluid samples. Tumour-specific abnormalities were (sic) in the serum of all but one of the stage la cases. Half of the occurrences of loss of heterozygosity identified in primary tumour (sic) were detectable in the serum samples. Novel alleles indicative of microsatellite instability were found in 3/6 patients with stage Ia (sic) but in only 1/14 of patients with more advanced disease. One of the eight patients in the control group displayed abnormalities in her (sic) DNA. The ease with which tumour-specific alterations were detected in serum and peritoneal samples from ovarian cancer patients, (sic) a panel of only six polymorphic microsatellite markers on four chromosomes, suggests that molecular detection methods could prove (sic) in the staging, monitoring and screening of this disease.