How Our Immune System Can Help Fight Cancer

The Effect of Genetic Polymorphisms in Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

There is growing evidence that our immune system can help fight cancer. This has stimulated interest in the development and application of tumor vaccines for several human solid tumors, including epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). A major obstacle to the development of these vaccines is that there are specialty cells called regulatory T cells that prevent the immune system from attacking all of our organs. These regulatory T cells also prevent our immune system for attacking cancer cells.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme that degrades an essential amino acid tryptophan that is necessary for T cells to multiply, however regulatory T cells are less susceptible to low levels of tryptophan, and can still multiply. This allows cancer growth and progression. This may be explained by genetic polymorphisms (changes) in the IDO gene, which may alter its function. Five of these changes in the IDO gene have been described. In this research project, we are asking if you would donate a small piece of your tumor and ascites to see if we can examine your IDO gene in the tumor cells and see if any of these gene changes are present. We hope that this will help us understand how the immune system works in EOC.

We hypothesize that genetic polymorphisms within the IDO gene alter its enzymatic activity and affect the outcome of ovarian cancer patients. These findings have the potential to translate into a method for predicting successful immunotherapy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Ovarian Cancer

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 169

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Mineola, New York, United States, 11501
      • Winthrop-University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) who have had surgical resection for their disease will be included in this study.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• females aged 20-90 who are having surgery to confirm epithelial ovarian cancer.

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients who have a diagnosis of non-epithelial histology.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
To examine the association of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) genetic polymorphisms with clinical outcomes of ovarian cancer.	one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
To correlate IDO activity with gene polymorphisms by measuring tryptophan/kynurenine ratios in the ascites of epithelial ovarian cancer patients.	one year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Winthrop University Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jeannine A Villella, D.O., Winthrop University Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): February 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 4, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 5, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): January 6, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 2, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 30, 2016
• Last Verified: December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: ovarian
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Carcinoma; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Endocrine System Diseases; Ovarian Diseases; Adnexal Diseases; Gonadal Disorders; Endocrine Gland Neoplasms; Ovarian Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial
• Other Study ID Numbers: 09316