The Food and Drug Administration is seeking comments by June 11, 2014 on its review for Olaparib approval. Olaparib is an oral poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor that exploits DNA repair pathway deficiencies to preferentially kill cancer cells. AstraZeneca, the company that manufactures the drug, has submitted an application to the FDA for approval of … Continued
(May 16, 2014) Breastfeeding, tubal ligation – also known as having one’s “tubes tied” – and oral contraceptives may lower the risk of ovarian cancer for some women with BRCA gene mutations, according to a comprehensive analysis from a team at the University of Pennsylvania’s Basser Research Center for BRCA. The Basser Research Center for … Continued
(May 6, 2014) Tumors use numerous mechanisms to escape detection and killing by the immune system. Results from OCRF-funded research, reported May 4, 2014 in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine, show that ovarian cancer cells (and others) establish a protective barrier that prevents anti-tumor immune responses by using tumor-associated blood vessels to kill immune cells. … Continued
(April 30, 2014) A positive pretreatment imaging test more than doubled the likelihood of disease control in platinum-resistant advanced ovarian cancer treated with the folate receptor-targeted drug vintafolide (trade name Vynfinit), results of a small phase II study showed. The research was reported in the April issue of Annals of Oncology. Lesions that tested positive for … Continued
With two marquee scientific conferences, the Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), occurring back-to-back, the past few weeks have seen an explosion in ovarian cancer research news. This post rounds-up all that news and puts it in one place for you. All women with ovarian cancer should consider … Continued
(April 15, 2014) Prolonged (>35 days), infrequent, or anovulatory menstrual cycles was associated with as much as a two-fold increase in ovarian cancer and more than a three-fold increase in the risk of fatal ovarian cancer, according to a 50-year, prospective follow-up in 14,403 women. The findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer … Continued
(April 8, 2014) A team of researchers have found that vigorous physical activity prior to ovarian cancer diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of ovarian cancer mortality. The findings were published in Gynecologic Oncology. There is limited knowledge of the association of modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity and obesity on mortality among … Continued
(April 7, 2014) A group of OCRF-funded researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found a “fusion gene” that is present in 20% of high grade serous ovarian cancer patients. The finding, which was published in PLOS Genetics, was supported in part by OCRF grants to Martin Matzuk, MD, PhD, Shannon Hawkins, MD, PhD, and … Continued
Last week marked the 20th year anniversary of the discovery of the BRCA1 gene by Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., an American geneticist. Dr. King, who was interviewed last week by NPR, talked about how being ignored by her male colleagues actually made it easier for her to do her work. At the time of her discovery, … Continued
Compiled by Robin Cohen, President-Elect, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance As in years past, a wealth of clinical research into ovarian cancer was presented at the 2014 Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) meeting. Some of the biggest news for the ovarian cancer community is summarized below, including SGO’s recommendations regarding genetic testing of ovarian cancer patients … Continued
(April 1, 2014) Ovarian Cancer Research Fund is now accepting Letters of Intent for its three research grant programs. Letters of Intent must be submitted by May 6, 2014 at 5:00pm ET.
A rare type of ovarian cancer called small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (or SCCOHT) can affect women and girls as young as 14 months old. This week, researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Arizona, announced that they had found a mutation in a gene called SMARCA4 responsible for this … Continued
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