Background & objectives : Ovarian cancer is the most common female reproductive cancer which is caused due to the malignant transformation of ovarian cells. This type of cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women and the primary cause of cancer deaths in the world. Axin2 gene is a tumor suppressor gene of the Axin family in WNT cycle which is essential for embryonic development. WNT proteins in this pathway have important intermediary role in cell messaging and in primary and secondary development of the embryo. Axin2 gene is activated as a negative feedback to prevent excessive proliferation of cells with simultaneous activation of WNT messaging. The aim of this study was to find the frequency of mutation in rs1133683 region of exon 5 in Axin2 gene and its relation with the risk of ovarian cancer.

  Methods : In this case-control study, 100 patients with ovarian cancer together with equal number of same age as controls were collected from Imam Khomeini Hospital. DNAs were extracted from blood and tissue and then were investigated by PCR-RFLP. Data analysis was performed using software SPSS (version 19) using logistic regression.

  Results : The results of study of mutation in rs1133683 region of exon 5 in Axin2 gene between two groups of case and controls indicated that there is no significant association between CT genotype with ovarian cancer (OR=1.26, 95%CI 0.70-2.27,p=0.43). Also no association was observed between TT genotype of Axin2 gene and ovarian cancer risk (OR=1.56, 95%CI 0.49-4.96, p=0.44).

  Conclusion : Study of mutation in rs1133683 region showed that there was no association between TT genotype carriers of Axin2 gene and the risk of ovarian cancer.

Background & objectives: Epithelial ovarian carcinoma seems to be one of the most lethal cancer types among all gynecological malignancies. The conventional course of therapy includes chemotherapy. Actually most cancers respond to chemotherapy but in the long run drug resistance and side effects cause treatment failure. In addition, milk thistle (silibinin), a plant that has been used from ancient time because of its good effects on different organs, determined to have powerful antioxidant activity.  The aim of this study was to examine the effect of silibinin on SKOV-3 cancer cell line after 48 hours of treatment and P21 gene expression which involves in cell cycle progression.

Methods: The human epithelial ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 was cultured as monolayer in 25 cm² flask in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Then the numbers of live cells were calculated using hemocytometer method and the cells were seeded in 96-well flat-bottomed culture plates and treated with different concentration of Silibinin. MTT assay was carried out to determine cell viability. To study P21 gene expression, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were carried out and real-time PCR was done.

Results: Cell growth was inhibited considerably by Silibinin treated groups compared with control after 48 hours. P21 gene expression was increased as well.

Conclusions: According to the results, Silibinin can be used as an effective drug in cancer treatment. More studies on animal models are also suggested.