Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
    • Research Impact Video
    • Strategic Plan
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence
      • Heart Health
      • Healthy Aging and Mobility
      • Immune System
      • Injury and Rehabilitation
      • Lung Health
      • Mental Health and Substance Use
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Aging SMART
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Dilawri Cardiovascular Institute
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
      • Learning and Development
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
      • CST Cerner
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Indigenous Health Research Unit
      • VCH-VCHRI AI Hub
      • Communications and Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Indigenous Research
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. British Columbia is taking the right approach to managing cancer of uterus and ovary, new research confirms

British Columbia is taking the right approach to managing cancer of uterus and ovary, new research confirms

News Releases Feb 2, 2016 4 minutes

News Release

Vancouver – Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the origin and development of cancer that occurs in the uterus and ovary simultaneously, substantiating an approach to managing the disease practiced by doctors in British Columbia.

Known as synchronous endometrial and ovarian (SEO) cancer, tumours on the endometrial lining of the uterus appear simultaneously with tumours on the ovary, and vice versa. The spread of a tumour from one organ to another (known as metastasis) is virtually always an indication of an advanced stage cancer that requires aggressive treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. However, SEO tumours behave as if they are independent, localized early-stage tumours that often respond well to surgery alone. This controversy regarding whether SEO cancer is metastatic has led to widely differing treatments.

By sequencing frequently mutated cancer genes in 18 pairs of SEO tumours, a new study led by scientists at the BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and the University of British Columbia (UBC) and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) has provided definitive evidence that each pair of SEO tumours are in fact genetically related clones.

The scientists explain the apparent paradox of the same cancer appearing simultaneously as two independent early-stage tumours on two different organs by invoking a novel process they call “pseudo-metastasis”. They propose that the process is distinct from usual metastasis in that the cancer likely spreads through the fallopian tube, not the blood stream, and that the host organs (ovary and uterus) provide a unique environment where these cancers are initially constrained.    

“Pseudo-metastasis is still something of a mystery,” says Dr. Michael Anglesio, lead author and Research Associate in the department of Molecular Oncology at the BC Cancer Agency. “Whether the initial event takes place in the ovary or the endometrium, and what keeps cells temporarily restricted to these special organs without metastasizing to the rest of the body, are things that we are now researching.”

Pseudo-metastasis has important implications for treatment. Here in B.C., SEO cancer patients have generally been treated conservatively by surgically removing the tumours. On a global scale, however, many women with SEO tumours have received aggressive treatment designed to fight late-stage metastatic cancer.

“This research will have an immediate impact on the management of ovarian and endometrial cancers,” says Dr. David Huntsman, Principal Investigator for the study, Distinguished Scientist at the BC Cancer Agency and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology at UBC. “It confirms that we’ve been taking the right approach to SEO cancers in British Columbia. This should influence treatment of the disease around the world so women do not undergo needlessly aggressive treatment.”

Meanwhile, a highly complementary study from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), published in the same issue of JNCI, is giving both research teams overwhelming confidence in their findings.

“We are delighted that the findings of our studies are in agreement,” says Dr. Britta Weigelt, Assistant Member of the Department of Pathology at MSKCC. “Together, these studies have resulted in a paradigm shift in the way SEO cancers are perceived. By bringing together pathology and genetics, we have solved a long standing biological question and clinical dilemma.”

The BC Cancer Agency, VCHRI and UBC study was funded by the Gray Family Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma Research Resource, the BC Cancer Foundation, the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society. 

The paper, Synchronous Endometrial and Ovarian Carcinomas: Evidence of Clonality, is available from JNCI, here.  The MSKCC paper is available, here.  And a JNCI editorial about the two papers is available, here.

Quick Facts:

  • Synchronous endometrial and ovarian cancers have been reported in five to 10 per cent of endometrial or ovarian cancers.
  • Advanced endometrial-like (endometrioid) ovarian cancers are the third most common form of ovarian cancer and roughly half have already metastasized to the uterus at time of presentation.
  • Endometrial cancer is the most common type of uterine cancer and starts in the lining of the uterus. Cancer of the uterus is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in B.C.
  • Ovarian cancer It is the fifth most common cause of cancer death overall. 

Researchers

David Huntsman

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Related Research Centres/Programs

Ovarian Cancer Research Centre

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Stories

Learning Health Systems strives to elevate patient-centred care

Jun 30, 2025 care delivery, knowledge translation, patient engagement
Type
Announcement

Innovation and Translational Research Awards 2025 Recipients

Jun 24, 2025 award
Type
Announcement

Decolonizing health research at the Indigenous Health Research Unit

Jun 20, 2025 people feature, indigenous health
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • YouTube

© 2025 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy