Ronny Drapkin

Mitigating DNA damage in the fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) is essential for preventing tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). In this study, we demonstrated that the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is abundantly expressed…

Background Serous-tubal intraepithelial-carcinoma (STIC) is considered the principal precursor of tubo-ovarian high-grade serous-carcinoma (HGSC), yet its biological uniformity, progression risk and potential response to poly(ADP-ribose) p…

Quantification of IHC staining for STING conducted on a tumor microarray including cores from healthy FT, FT from patients with gynecological inflammation resulting from endometriosis or chronic salpingitis, and Stage I/Stage II HGSC

SignificanceThere is an unmet need for effective ovarian cancer screening and diagnostic approaches that enable earlier-stage cancer detection and increased overall survival. We have developed a high-performing accessible approach that eval…

Endometrioid and mucinous ovarian carcinomas represent nearly a fifth of ovarian cancers, but their molecular characteristics and pathologic origins are poorly understood. To identify the genomic and epigenomic alterations characteristic of…

The human Fallopian tube (FT) is an important organ in the female reproductive system and has been implicated as a site of origin for pelvic serous cancers, including high-grade serous tubo-ovarian carcinoma (HGSC). We have generated compre…

Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1) retrotransposons are repetitive sequences that can move within the genome by an autonomous mechanism. To limit their mutagenic potential, benign cells restrict LINE-1 expression through molecular mechani…

Subunits of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex are altered in ∼20% of human cancers. Exemplifying the alterations is the ARID1A mutation that occurs in ∼50% of ovarian clear-cell carcinoma (OCCC), a disease with limited therapeutic op…

Kaplan-Meier survival curves for ovarian cancer patients with and without mutations in the PI3K and WNT pathways. (a, b) Alterations in the PI3K pathway trended towards increased survival among patients with ovarian endometrioid carcinomas …

Epigenetic aberrations, including posttranslational modifications of core histones, are major contributors to cancer. Here, we define the status of histone H2B monoubiquitylation (H2Bub1) in clear cell ovarian carcinoma (CCOC), low-grade se…

ARID1A, encoding a subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, is mutated in ∼50% of clear cell ovarian carcinoma (OCCC) cases. Here we show that inhibition of the mevalonate pathway synergizes with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) by driving inflammas…

BackgroundOvarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a rare ovarian cancer histotype that tends to be resistant to standard platinum-based chemotherapeutics. We sought to better understand the role of DNA methylation in clinical and biological …

PURPOSE: To identify molecular subclasses of clear cell ovarian carcinoma (CCOC) and assess their impact on clinical presentation and outcomes. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We profiled 421 primary CCOCs that passed quality control using a targeted…

Somatic inactivating mutations of ARID1A, a SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling gene, are prevalent in human endometrium-related malignancies. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying how ARID1A deleterious mutation contributes to tumorigenesis, we …

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in the United States. The mortality of this disease is primarily attributed to challenges in early detection and therapeutic resistance. Recent studies indicate that the majority of h…

IntroductionSince the majority of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. There is no single biomarker with the sensitivity and specificity required for effective cancer sc…

Understanding the regulatory landscape of the human genome is a central question in complex trait genetics. Most single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with cancer risk lie in non-protein-coding regions, implicating regulatory DN…

GATA3 is a transcription factor critical for embryogenesis, development, and cell differentiation. Recent studies have suggested that GATA3 is a sensitive and relatively specific biomarker for urothelial and breast carcinomas, with most Mül…

Ovulation has long been associated with an increased risk in ovarian cancer, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain obscure. Two aspects of ovulation have been linked to ovarian cancer pathogenesis. The first is the impact of repeti…

BackgroundThe traditional view of epithelial ovarian cancer asserts that all tumor subtypes share a common origin in the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) DESIGN: A literature review was carried out to summarize the emerging understanding of…

Recent developments in the study of epithelial ovarian cancer have called into question the traditional views regarding the site of tumor initiation. Histopathologic studies and genomic analyses suggest that extra-ovarian sites, like the fa…

There have been major advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular biology of the human malignancies that are collectively referred to as ovarian cancer. At a recent Helene Harris Memorial Trust meeting, an international grou…

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease for which there is no effective means of early detection. Ovarian carcinomas comprise a diverse group of neoplasms, exhibiting a wide range of morphological characteristics, clinical manifestations, geneti…

BackgroundEarly serous carcinomas predominate in the fimbria of women with BRCA mutations (BRCA+). An entity in non-neoplastic mucosa sharing several properties of early serous carcinomas--the "p53 signature"--has been described in the dist…

Prolongation of ovarian epithelial cancer survival depends on early detection or improved responses to chemotherapy. Gains in either have been modest at best. Understanding the diverse pathogenesis of this disease is critical to early inter…