Does cigarette smoke exposure contributes to the progression of ovarian cancer? (844.7)

Rationale and Objective : Investigating risk factors for ovarian cancer is at extreme importance due to the asymptomatic nature of this disease during early stages. Although a correlation between history of cigarette smoking in women and risk of ovarian cancer occurrence has been reported, there is no primary literature linking cigarette smoke (CS) as a causative factor in ovarian cancer development. Here we conducted an in‐vitro approach to detect effects of CS exposure on ovarian cancer progress. We hypothesized that cigarette smoke exposure cause promotion of ovarian cancer via attenuating apoptosis and increasing proliferation of cancer cells. Methods: A2780 ovarian cancer cells were used as the experimental model. Cigarette smoke extract (CSE) was created using a modification of a published method. Following serum starvation, A2780 cells were treated with either control (serum free media) or different concentrations of CSE for 24 hours. To detect effects of CSE on ovarian cancer cell apoptosis, apostain and tryphan blue exclusion assays were performed. To detect CSE effects on cell proliferation, BrdU cell proliferation assay was conducted. Results: 24 hour Exposure of CSE caused increase in cancer cell proliferation, and decrease in cancer cell apoptosis. Conclusions: CS promotes ovarian cancer progression via accelerating cancer cell proliferation and attenuating apoptotic cell death. Grant Funding Source : Sullivan University Faculty Development Grant