1. ¹Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, People's Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
2. ²Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
3. ³Department of Pathology, People's Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
4. ⁴Department of Pathology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China

Correspondence: Dr VWS Liu, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China. E-mail: vwsliu@hkusua.hku.hk

Received 23 January 2006; Revised 8 August 2006; Accepted 25 August 2006; Published online 3 October 2006.

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content in ovarian carcinomas was assessed by quantitative PCR. Results show that mtDNA content in tumour cell was significantly higher than that in normal ovary. Change in mtDNA content was not related with patients' age or tumour stages. However, the average mtDNA copy number in pathological low-grade tumours was over two-fold higher than that in high-grade carcinomas (P=0.012). Moreover, type I carcinomas also had a significantly higher mtDNA copy number than in type II carcinomas (P=0.019). Change in mtDNA content might be an important genetic event in the progression of ovarian carcinomas.