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
Last week, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP – the equivalent to the FDA in the United States, recommended approval for vynfinit in the treatment of some platinum resistant ovarian cancers. Vynfinit, developed by Endocyte, targets ovarian cancer cells that have abnormally high levels of the folate receptor. … Continued
(March 25, 2014) In what is being hailed as a major discovery, findings published this week indicate that researchers have discovered a gene mutation that causes Small Cell Carcinoma of the Ovary, Hypercalcemic type. OCRF Scientific Advisory Committee member, and former grantee, Douglas A. Levine, MD, is senior author of one of three papers on … Continued
(March 20, 2014) The Society for Gynecologic Oncology has released a statement on the use of genetic testing for women with gynecologic cancer. The statement says that women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers should receive genetic counseling and consider genetic testing, even in the absence of a family history of cancer. … Continued
(March 20, 2014) A group of French researchers conducted a randomized, phase III trial (called AURELIA) combining bevacizumab (Avastin) with chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The results of the trial, which enrolled 361 patients, were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included objective … Continued
This week, a new analysis showed that women that are overweight or obese have a moderately higher risk of developing ovarian cancer than women at normal weight. The study, released by the American Institute for Cancer Research, analyzed the data from 28 studies of over 16,000 women with ovarian cancer and showed that women who … Continued
(March 14, 2014) A large European clinical trial showed that carboplatin plus paclitaxel once a week (versus every three weeks) can be an effective front-line treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer. The results of the study were published in the medical journal The Lancet. Carboplatin plus paclitaxel administered every 3 weeks is standard first-line … Continued
OCRF-funded research at UC Davis have verified that glycans (sugars attached to proteins) can be used to identify ovarian cancer. The study was published online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. “This is one of many papers we’ve done to see if glycans can distinguish between women who have ovarian cancer and those who … Continued
New research published this week suggests that women with BRCA1 mutations should have a prophylactic oophorectomy by the age of 35 to lessen their risk of developing and dying from ovarian cancer. By contrast, the study recommended that surgical intervention could be delayed until the 40s for BRCA2 mutation carriers. You can read the full … Continued
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