OCRF Research Sheds Light on Ovarian Cancer Origins in BRCA Mutation Carriers

A team of current and former OCRF grantees at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has developed genetically engineered mouse models of high-grade serous ovarian cancer that shed light on the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.  These models, which target the cell of origin (fallopian tube secretory cells) and recreate key genetic alterations and precursor lesions characteristic of the human disease, will allow the development of better early detection and prevention strategies for women at increased risk.

This research, funded in part by OCRF, was co-led by current OCRF grantee Daniela Dinulescu, PhD and former grantee and OCRF Scientific Advisory Committee member Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD.  Ruth Perets, MD, PhD, also an OCRF grantee, was the first author of the paper, which was published in Cancer Cell this week.

Click here to read the abstract of this article.