Chicken ovary cancer versus normal

Ovarian cancer has a high mortality rate due, in part, to the lack of early detection and incomplete understanding of the origin of the disease. The hen is the only spontaneous model of ovarian cancer, and can therefore aid in the identification and testing of early detection strategies and therapeutics. To our knowledge, no studies to date have examined global gene expression in ovarian cancer of the hen. Our aim was to combine the use of the hen animal model and microarray technology to identify differentially expressed genes in ovarian tissue from normal hens compared to hens with ovarian cancer. Ovarian tissue samples from whole ovaries were collected from hens for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. Hens were matched for age and laying status. Normal hens (n=3) showed no gross or histopathological evidence of ovarian cancer, while cancer specimens (n=3) had tumors that were stage 2 (restricted to the ovary and observable at necropsy) or 3 (ovarian tumor with abdominal seeding). Total RNA was extracted using TRIZOL according to the manufacturer's instructions.