Work

Exploratory analysis of Notch and Wnt pathway gene expression across biofluids and tumor tissue in gynecologic cancer

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Ovarian (OC) and endometrial (EC) cancers are among the most clinically challenging gynecologic malignancies. The lack of reliable non-invasive biomarkers limits early detection of these malignancies. Notch and Wnt pathway members are frequently deregulated in EC and OC tissues and may serve as biomarkers. Liquid biopsy samples, including uterine lavage (UL), plasma and urine may serve as less-invasive alternatives to tissue biopsies. In this study, CTNNB1 , NOTCH2 , DLL1 , HES1 expression was determined by RT-qPCR in 103 uterine lavage, 15 urine sediment, 15 plasma and 65 tissue samples from patients with gynecologic conditions. NOTCH2 , DLL1 and CTNNB1 expressions were decreased in UL from EC patients compared to non-cancer samples ( p ≤ 0.003), while HES1 expression was increased in high-grade serous OC (HGSOC) ( p = 0.014). UL HES1 expression distinguished HGSOC from non-cancer cases (AUC = 0.688), while UL NOTCH2 separated EC and non-cancer cases (AUC = 0.865). HES1 showed concordance between tumor and UL, whereas HES1 , CTNNB1 , and NOTCH2 differed between plasma, urine sediment and tumor samples. The study provides the first comparison of these biomarkers between multiple types of liquid biopsy sample types, supporting UL as a promising biosample type for gynecologic cancer biomarker development.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-74989-0

Authors: Ieva Vaicekauskaitė, Paulina Kazlauskaitė, Diana Žilovič, Rūta Čiurlienė, Rasa Sabaliauskaitė

Institutions: Vilnius University, National Cancer Institute, Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Klinikos

Language: English

Topic: Ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment

Subfield: Oncology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690