Cervical Cancer Genetics Study Seeks Volunteers

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Friday, 28 May 2004

Washington University School of Medicine researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center are seeking the participation of cervical cancer patients in a search for genes that increase a woman's risk of cancer.

"Cervical cancer has been linked to infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), but only a small proportion of infected women ever develop cancers, so additional risk factors must be involved," says principal investigator Janet S. Rader, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine and a staff physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Better understanding of the genetic factors involved in the development of cervical cancer will help scientists improve testing and treatments, according to Rader.

Rader's team plans to examine DNA samples from patients and their parents using the patterns of parent-to-child genetic inheritance to identify small changes in the genetic code that lead to increased risk of developing cervical cancer.

Two groups of genes are at the top of the search list: genes linked to immune system functions and genes for proteins already known to interact with HPV.

"We're looking at genes involved in different immune system functions because we know that when a patient's immune system is weakened or suppressed he or she is at a higher risk for cervical cancer," Rader says.

Researchers have previously pinpointed several proteins that HPV interacts within cells. Small changes in the genes for those proteins could change the way the proteins interact with HPV, so the study of these genes is also a priority.

For the study, researchers are seeking patients with invasive cervical cancer or a history of it. Patients with a precancerous condition known as dysplasia are also eligible if they have the most severe form called category III dysplasia.

Qualified participants also must have parents who are willing to donate their own DNA for study.

"We're using a kind of family-based model and looking at the varieties of genes the patients inherit from parents versus the varieties of genes patients didn't get," Rader explains. "Each parent has two potentially different copies of the gene, and their offspring only inherits one copy of the gene from each parent."

In the initial evaluation, potential participants will be interviewed over the phone. Later, DNA samples will be collected from either a mouthwash sample or a blood specimen.

For more information or to volunteer, contact study coordinator Gail Hammer at (314) 362-2357 or toll-free at 866-792-1375.

For more information, or to contact Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, see their website at: medschool.wustl.edu