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Hoag researchers have discovered a molecular warning signal in the blood that identifies serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), an early, precancerous stage of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). This advance is particularly significant because ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, after the disease has already spread.

Led by Hoag's Dr. Rajan Gogna and Dr. Esha Madan, the research was published in Nature Medicine.

HGSOC often forms in the fallopian tube as STIC, a group of abnormal cells that are microscopic, noninvasive and invisible to imaging and conventional cancer blood tests. STIC is usually only discovered incidentally during surgery to remove the fallopian tubes and/or ovaries.

The study found elevated blood levels of Tu-Stroma in women with both STIC and early-stage HGSOC. Tu-Stroma is an RNA molecule associated with one of cancer's most fundamental biological processes: weakening neighboring healthy cells to create space for cancer cell growth.

By studying this earliest competition between cancer and healthy tissue, Hoag researchers identified a molecular warning signal that could potentially reveal cancer development years before conventional tests can detect a tumor. This discovery demonstrates how fundamental biological research can lead to entirely new approaches to early cancer detection.

"Ovarian cancer does not begin the day we discover a tumor. It often begins much earlier, with microscopic changes in the fallopian tubes that we can't see during routine screenings," said Gogna, director of translational research at the Hoag Family Cancer Institute.

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