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New research from the University of Illinois at Chicago shows that cancer cells in the fallopian tube affect normal chemical signaling between reproductive tissues and stimulate the release of norepinephrine, a small molecule hormone, from the ovary. The study suggests that cancer cells take over the communication between the fallopian tube and the ovary to create an environment that is more hospitable to its growth, and that the increased norepinephrine levels cause cancer cells to migrate from the fallopian tube to the ovary.
According to Burdette, professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the UIC College of Pharmacy, ovarian cancer cells originate in the fallopian tube and migrate to the ovary where they become established as ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women. Using imaging mass spectrometry and ovarian tissue from mice, the researchers visualized the spatial distribution of chemical signals around the ovarian tissue in response to eight different cell environments, including cells engineered to represent healthy fallopian tube cells and fallopian tube-derived ovarian cancer cells at various stages of development.
They found that the concentration of norepinephrine was significantly increased and centrally located around the ovary only when cancer cells derived from the fallopian tube were present. This shows that the communication between the fallopian tube and the ovary changes as normal fallopian tube cells evolve to become aggressive, particularly when they are in proximity to the ovary.