These results were repeated in two separate data sets of 160 cases.

Zhang and colleagues treated mice with two ovarian cancer cell lines with either nanoparticle miR-506 or a control nanoparticle.

Mice treated with miR-506 not only had fewer (75 and 48 percent declines), smaller tumors (down 78 and 53 percent), they also had steeply reduced levels of SNAI2 and VIM and major boosts of E-cadherin (200 and 120 percent increases).

These results suggest liposomal nanoparticle-delivered miR-506 might be developed as an ovarian cancer treatment. While miRNA has been effective in lab experiments, delivery in liposomal nanoparticles has shown promise in research at MD Anderson and other institutions.

Longstanding collaborations with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and MD Anderson sister institution Tianjin Medical University are vital to this research, Zhang said.

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