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Breastfeeding, Birth Control Pills May Reduce Ovarian Cance...

Breastfeeding, Birth Control Pills May Reduce Ovarian Cancer Risk Among Women with BRCA Gene Mutations

(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

OCRF Research Shows How Ovarian Tumors Elude Immune System

OCRF Research Shows How Ovarian Tumors Elude Immune System

(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

Imaging Predicts Response in Ovarian Cancer

Imaging Predicts Response in Ovarian Cancer

(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

SGO and AACR Research Round-Up

SGO and AACR Research Round-Up

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

News from AACR: Irregular Menses Linked to High Risk of Ova...

News from AACR: Irregular Menses Linked to High Risk of Ovarian Cancer

(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

Physical Activity Associated with Lower Risk of Ovarian Can...

Physical Activity Associated with Lower Risk of Ovarian Cancer Mortality

(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

OCRF Research Identifies Fusion Gene Common in Ovarian Cancer

OCRF Research Identifies Fusion Gene Common in Ovarian Cancer

(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

Discoverer of BRCA genes said “being ignored” h...

Discoverer of BRCA genes said “being ignored” helped her do her research

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

Updates from the 2014 Society for Gynecologic Oncology Annu...

Updates from the 2014 Society for Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting

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

2015 OCRF Requests for Proposals Now Available

2015 OCRF Requests for Proposals Now Available

(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.

Causative mutation found for rare form of ovarian cancer af...

Causative mutation found for rare form of ovarian cancer affecting young women

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

Vynfinit gains European approval for treatment of platinum-...

Vynfinit gains European approval for treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer

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

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