# Genome-wide methylation and proteomic analysis of uterine lavage and cervical swab for  early detection of ovarian cancer

> **NIH NIH U2C** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $686,372

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract – Overall
A three-decade research program developing, optimizing, and testing an annual blood-based test for the early
detection of ovarian cancer in normal risk postmenopausal women failed to show a cancer-specific mortality
reduction. The likely fundamental reason for the failure is the short window of opportunity provided by a
blood-based signal. The proposed BCC will seek to identify an alternative biospecimen for the source of signal
which has a much greater window of time for detection in early-stage disease so that an annual testing
frequency will have a high likelihood of detecting ovarian cancer during its curable stages. Due to the direct
connection of the uterus to the fallopian tube, where the cell of origin resides, a uterine lavage will likely
contain the earliest biological signals of the presence of ovarian cancer. Identifying a minimal ovarian cancer
signal amongst a much greater background of uterine epithelium cells and cellular material requires a very
sensitive test. Our BCC will build on a recently developed innovative genome-wide methylation test and
combine it with a sensitive antibody based proteomic test. Having optimized the combined test to detect a
signal in uterine lavage, the BCC will determine its sensitivity in Pap smears. The BCC will optimize the
combined test on training uterine lavage samples, validate the test on independent validation cohort of
uterine lavage samples, and assess its performance in Pap smear samples. If the optimized test is sensitive in
Pap smears, then the overall goal of a clinically acceptable and readily performed test (Pap smear) conducted
at a feasible frequency of every 12 months will be a crucial step towards an annual test for the early detection
of ovarian cancer in normal risk postmenopausal women, the population in which 80% of ovarian cancers
occur. The long-term goal is an early detection program resulting in a significant reduction in ovarian cancer
mortality. The intended use of the test developed by the BCC will be as a clinical decision-support tool for
screening normal risk postmenopausal women for early detection of ovarian cancer. Such a test will fill an
unmet health gap since there is currently no early detection test for ovarian cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10485564
- **Project number:** 1U2CCA271871-01
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Abhijit Patel
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $686,372
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10485564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10485564, Genome-wide methylation and proteomic analysis of uterine lavage and cervical swab for  early detection of ovarian cancer (1U2CCA271871-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10485564. Licensed CC0.

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