Researchers believe that the clues to causes of ovarian cancer may lie in the mammal platypus.

Geneticist Frank Grutzner of the University of Adelaide said DNA mapping of the platypus has unravelled an interesting link between their sex chromosomes and DNA sequences found in human ovarian cancer.

Grutzner said that DNA on the sex chromosomes of the platypus that is similar to the DNA affected in ovarian cancer and other reproductive diseases like male infertility has been identified. Cancers often exhibit a large number of DNA changes and it is difficult to determine which ones are important for the development of the disease.

He further added that the comparison with distantly related species like platypus assists in identifying important DNA sequences that have been conserved by evolution over millions of years.

Grutzner's associate Martin Oehler, ovarian cancer specialist from the Royal Adelaide Hospital, says ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological cancer and ranks as the sixth most common cause of cancer death in Australian women.