ABSTRACT
The struggle between life and death in a cell is constant. This is the relentless battle being waged both at the molecular genomic level and at the cellular level.When there is an imbalance in these finely tuned processes, uncontrolled growth of the cellular population, or cancer, can be the outcome.Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy.1 Despite the advent of multiple screening technologies, the majority of ovarian cancer patients still present at an advanced stage, and the survival for patients with advanced-stage disease is poor.2 The recent genomic revolution has provided enormous information concerning the molecular characteristics of cancer. Identification and characterization of the genes and their protein products that contribute to the malignant phenotype can provide researchers with novel molecular targets that can be exploited in an attempt to improve ovarian cancer survival. In gynecologic oncology, we are now just beginning to investigate these new biologic therapies in the treatment of ovarian cancer.3 There are a variety of cell surface receptors, signaling pathways, and nuclear proteins that stimulate cellular proliferation or inhibit cell death.
