Ovarian cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, a type that usually goes undiagnosed for some time in many people.
However, a lesser known fact is that ovarian cancer often forms secondary tumors, particularly in a certain tissue in the abdominal cavity called the omentum, which connects the stomach to other abdominal organs.
Researchers from the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel have studied what happens when cancer “hijacks” this cavity.
Ovarian cancer often goes unnoticed for a long time. In seven out of 10 patients, the tumor had already formed secondary tumors in the abdominal cavity at the time of diagnosis.
“In advanced ovarian cancer, the question arises whether, in addition to visible tumors and metastases, the omentum should also be completely removed preventively in order to reduce tumor recurrence,” explains Dr. Francis Jacob from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and the University Hospital Basel.
To answer this question, the team led by Jacob and Professor Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz analyzed 36 tissue samples from 15 patients, taken from different parts of the omentum.
Some of the samples came from patients with ovarian cancer who already had secondary tumors in that organ, while others came from patients whose omentum was cancer-free but had other types of cancer.
The researchers analyzed precisely which cells were present in the samples and created a cell atlas of the omentum in a diseased and healthy state.
The results indicated that the healthy omentum has a balanced cellular composition, meaning that the same cells are present in equal amounts at all sites checked.
However, in the case of ovarian cancer patients, it has been found that the cancer transforms the omentum into an environment conducive to the spread of tumors.
“A key finding is that even tissues distant from the tumor undergo changes in their composition and already contain individual tumor cells. When cancer cells migrate into the omentum, they hijack the entire organ,” explains Jacob.
The results of this study could constitute a major advance in the treatment of ovarian cancer and prevent recurrence by also treating the omentum.
