“Ovarian cancer is typically diagnosed at a late stage and therefore has a poor prognosis,” said Dr. Mardis of The Nationwide Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. “Chlamydia will be an important point of study here, both because of the frequency of this infection, and because it is quite difficult to detect, due to its asymptomatic nature. But the most important take-home point is that we might be able to go a long way in terms of preventing ovarian cancer by routinely screening for infective agents.”
Pelvic inflammatory disease is known to be associated with ovarian cancer, and chlamydia is a leading cause of the disease, noted Dr. Trabert. “But chlamydia infections can be asymptomatic and persist for months or even years, so ascertainment of past chlamydia infections is challenging.”
To investigate the potential link between these infections and ovarian cancer, Dr. Trabert and her colleagues examined associations between antibodies to several infectious agents, including chlamydia, in two large ovarian cancer databases: a population-based case/control study in Poland and a case-control study nested into the U.S. Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial.
The researchers screened for antibodies to chlamydia, Mycoplasma genitalium, Epstein-Barre virus, human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus-1 and -2, polyomavirus, hepatitis B and C, and cytomegalovirus. The chlamydia antibody selected was plasmid-encoded Pgp3 protein, considered the gold standard measurement for prior or existing chlamydia infections.