(December 23, 2019) OCRA-funded scientist Dr. Sarah Gitto is making strides toward better harnessing the immune system to fight ovarian cancer. As reported recently in Gynecologic Oncology, Dr. Gitto and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania successfully created patient “avatars,” which mimic a patient’s biological profile based on a number of factors. Using these … Continued
OCRA-funded scientists have been hard at work this year, uncovering breakthroughs in ovarian cancer prevention, diagnostics, and treatment that can save women’s lives. Our grantees have made incredible progress toward better understanding and eradicating ovarian cancer. Their findings will have real-life impact for women and families battling this disease — and these stunning advancements would … Continued
(November 13, 2019) A study recently published in Nature Communications and led by OCRA grantee Dr. Rugang Zhang showed that the ARID1A protein plays a fundamental role in ensuring correct chromosome segregation when the cells divide. Specifically, ARID1A controls expression of another protein called STAG1 that is required to keep chromosome ends together. When ARID1A … Continued
In an effort to further understand disease initiation and progression, OCRA grantee Dr. Sumegha Mitra, along with colleagues at Indiana University, conducted research which revealed key changes in gene expression occurring during the initiation and early metastasis of ovarian cancer. Dr. Mitra and colleagues identified targets and pathways which can be explored in the future … Continued
(September 19, 2019) While harnessing the immune system has resulted in strong responses for a subset of cancer patients, the majority of patients have remained unresponsive to this approach. In order to enable ovarian cancer patients to benefit from immunotherapy, Dr. Michael Goldberg’s research sought to understand how standard-of-care chemotherapy influences immune cells around the … Continued
(September 10, 2019) Ovarian clear-cell carcinoma is an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Endometriosis is derived from the uterine endometrium and is a known risk factor for ovarian clear-cell carcinoma. Evidence supports ovarian clear-cell origins in the uterine endometrium. It has been known for years that co-occurring cellular mutations are observed in ovarian clear-cell carcinoma, … Continued
(September 5, 2019) OCRA funded investigator Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD contributed to a study that provides an intriguing hypothesis that mutation in genes like SMARCA4 may improve tumor recognition by the immune system. The body’s immune system plays a major role in controlling tumor growth. Specialized immune cells called T-cells identify cancer cells as “foreign” … Continued
(July 26, 2019) OCRA grantee Michael Yaffe, MD, PhD, led a study published earlier this month in Cell Systems which found success targeting cancer cells by combining two existing classes of drugs. Dr. Yaffe and colleagues found that this combination, which targets the cancer cells’ ability to divide, dramatically increases the drug’s capacity to kill … Continued
Four multidisciplinary teams to be funded to study survivorship (June 13, 2019) In a new collaboration, the American Cancer Society and Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance have joined forces to fund multidisciplinary research projects to explore new ways of detecting, treating, and preventing ovarian cancer relapse and for improving quality of life among those diagnosed with … Continued
(May 21, 2019) Earlier this month, Nature Genetics published a study, in part funded by OCRA, that found 34 genes were connected to women developing the earliest stages of ovarian cancer. Using data compiled by the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, researchers looked at the genetic profiles of around 25,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and … Continued
(March 20, 2019) The Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, funded in part by OCRA, recently completed a Phase 1b Trial, which combined a PARP inhibitor with an HRR (homologous recombination repair) pathway inhibitor, such as PI3K, in order to increase the efficacy of PARP inhibitors in breast and epithelial ovarian cancers. Phase 1 trials are used … Continued
(March 15, 2019) Cell Reports recently published a study about a drug that, given in combination with chemotherapy, could greatly increase survival rates of ovarian cancer patients. Researchers, including OCRA grantees Illana Chefetz, PhD and Ronald Buckanovich, MD, PhD, identified a new drug, 673A, that finds and destroys stem-like ovarian cancer cells. Stem-like cells are … Continued
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