Hoag: blood RNA Tu-Stroma detected precancerous STIC in 92.3% of women in archived samples
Hoag researchers report an RNA molecule elevated in the blood of women with STIC and early high-grade serous ovarian cancer; the test was validated on previously collected samples.
Researchers at the Hoag Family Cancer Institute in Newport Beach, California, reported a blood RNA signal associated with serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), a precancerous stage of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), according to a release published on finance.yahoo.com on November 10, 2026 finance.yahoo.com
finance.yahoo.comfinance.yahoo.comOpen source ↗. The work, led by Dr. Rajan Gogna and Dr. Esha Madan, was published the same day in Nature Medicine.
HGSOC often forms in the fallopian tube as STIC, a group of abnormal cells that is microscopic, non-invasive and not visible on imaging or in conventional cancer blood tests. STIC is usually found incidentally during surgery to remove the fallopian tubes or ovaries.
The Tu-Stroma signal
The study found elevated blood levels of Tu-Stroma in women with STIC and in women with early-stage HGSOC. Tu-Stroma is an RNA molecule linked to a process in which cancer cells weaken neighboring healthy cells to make room for their own growth. The authors say this signal could potentially reveal cancer development years before conventional tests can detect a tumor.
Validation results
The eight-year international, multi-institutional study used clinical samples from several countries to develop and validate the test finance.yahoo.com
finance.yahoo.comfinance.yahoo.comOpen source ↗. In a separate validation group, the test detected STIC in 92.3% of women who had it and correctly identified 98.2% of healthy women. In a model of a high-risk population, about 72% of positive results would be accurate, and a negative result would be correct nearly 100% of the time, the researchers reported.
The published analysis used previously collected blood samples from women with confirmed diagnoses. The team plans prospective clinical studies that will enroll women with and without elevated genetic risk, collect blood samples and follow participants over time. These studies are intended to determine how early the signal can be detected, how reliably it identifies women with precursor disease, and whether it can help guide clinical decisions.
The stated long-term goal is a clinically validated blood test. Dr. Madan noted that decisions about preventive surgery, including for carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, currently rely largely on inherited risk, without knowing whether precancerous lesions are present. The group says it is also working on approaches aimed at stopping such lesions from progressing.
