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Pavlos Msaouel: CA-125 as a Biomarker in Renal Medullary Carcinoma

Pavlos Msaouel/X

Mar 19, 2025, 12:58

Pavlos Msaouel: CA-125 as a Biomarker in Renal Medullary Carcinoma

Pavlos Msaouel, Assistant Professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, posted on X about recent paper he and colleagues co-authored, titled “CA-125 as a Biomarker in Renal Medullary Carcinoma: Integrated Molecular Profiling, Functional Characterization, and Prospective Clinical Validation” published on Clinical Cancer Research.

Authors: Sandra L. Grimm, Menuka Karki, Kyle A. Blum, Jean-Philippe Bertocchio, Rong He, Durga N. Tripathi, Niki M. Zacharias, Justin M. Lebenthal, Rahul A. Sheth, Priya Rao, Giannicola Genovese, Zhen Lu, Robert C. Bast, Davis R. Ingram, Rossana Lazcano, Khalida M. Wani, Wei-Lien Wang, Alexander J. Lazar, Nizar M. Tannir, Cheryl L. Walker, Cristian Coarfa, Pavlos Msaouel

“The Clinical Cancer Research cover below is a Renal Medullary Carcinoma cell expressing MUC16 (CA-125) in green and actin red with overlapping regions in yellow. Photo taken by Menuka Karki and also featured in our art contest led by Eleonora Dondossola.”

This study investigates renal medullary carcinoma (RMC), a highly aggressive cancer primarily affecting young individuals with sickle cell trait. RMC is characterized by the loss of the SMARCB1 tumor suppressor gene and is resistant to conventional treatments used for other renal cell carcinomas. The researchers aimed to identify biomarkers for early detection and disease monitoring. By using RNA sequencing and histone chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, they found that MUC16, which encodes the cancer antigen CA-125, was significantly upregulated in RMC tissues. Functional studies in RMC cell lines demonstrated that reexpression of SMARCB1 reduced MUC16 expression.

The study further evaluated the serum levels of CA-125 in 47 RMC patients, revealing that 66% of the patients had elevated levels, which correlated significantly with metastatic tumor burden. These findings suggest that CA-125 could be a valuable biomarker for monitoring disease progression in RMC. The study highlights the potential of CA-125 not only for disease monitoring but also as a target for therapeutic strategies in RMC.

Pavlos Msaouel: CA-125 as a Biomarker in Renal Medullary Carcinoma