Ieva Vaicekauskaitė defended her thesis entitled "Search of New Biomarkers for Oncogynecologic Disease Diagnosis and Prognosis" for the degree of Doctor of Science in Biology.
Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rasa Sabaliauskaitė (Vilnius University, Natural Sciences, Biology).
Composition of the Dissertation Defense Board: Chairperson - Prof. Dr. Daiva Baltriukienė (Vilnius University, Natural Sciences, Biology); Dr. Edvardas Bagdonas (Centre for Innovative medicine, Natural Sciences, Biology), Dr. Veronika Borutinskaitė (Vilnius University, Natural Sciences, Biochemistry), Dr. Pol Solé-Navais (University of Gothenburg, Sweden, Natural Sciences, Biology), Prof. Dr. Rasa Ugenskienė (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine).
Ovarian cancer is the 8th most common and the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. Currently used ovarian cancer biomarkers in clinical practice (HE4 and CA125) have limited sensitivity and specificity, highlighting the need for new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic properties of selected biomarkers – gene expression, gene mutations, and gene promoter methylation – across 27 genes, as well as their combinations, in ovarian cancer tissues. The biomarkers were selected based on analysis of scientific literature and open-access databases. The results showed that gene expression biomarkers CTNNB1, GRB7, and TCEAL4 may have diagnostic value, while ARID1A mutations and the expression of NOTCH3 and HES1 genes may have prognostic significance in ovarian tissues. Combining biomarkers increased the diagnostic and prognostic value of the developed ovarian cancer test models.
The obtained results reveal the potential of the analyzed biomarkers; with further validation, these markers and their combinations could contribute to more accurate diagnosis of ovarian cancer and improved prediction of disease progression.