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OCRA-Funded Research Elucidates New Immunotherapy Approach

OCRA-Funded Research Elucidates New Immunotherapy Approach

(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

OCRA-Funded Research Points to Surrounding Tissues for Further Study

OCRA-Funded Research Points to Surrounding Tissues for Further Study

(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

OCRA-Funded Research Moves Immunotherapy Forward

OCRA-Funded Research Moves Immunotherapy Forward

(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

OCRA Funded Research Reveals New Drug Therapy Combination

OCRA Funded Research Reveals New Drug Therapy Combination

(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

OCRA Funded Study Aims to Increase Efficacy of PARP Inhibitors

OCRA Funded Study Aims to Increase Efficacy of PARP Inhibitors

(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

OCRA-Funded Research Indicates that Stem-Like Cells May Be Key to Preventing Recurrence

OCRA-Funded Research Indicates that Stem-Like Cells May Be Key to Preventing Recurrence

(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

OCRA Awards $5.25 Million in Scientific Research Grants for 2019

OCRA Awards $5.25 Million in Scientific Research Grants for 2019

(January 10, 2019) We’re pleased to announce OCRA’s newest research grants of $5.25 million to 23 top scientists at 14 top medical centers. In 2019, with our other ongoing grants and programs, OCRA is investing nearly $9 million in our fight against ovarian cancer. “OCRA invests in medical research to cure ovarian cancer. Scientists need … Continued

OCRA Funded Research Delves Deeper into How PARPi Work

OCRA Funded Research Delves Deeper into How PARPi Work

(December 21, 2018) This month, researchers in Boston published their findings on how PARP inhibitors (PARPi) cause a chain reaction of responses from the tumor and its environment. Study authors, including OCRA grantee Ursula Matulonis, MD, treated BRCA-1 deficient tumors with olaparib, a PARPi, and found that it began both a natural and medically induced … Continued

OCRA Funded Research Reveals Immune Suppression in Ovarian Cancer

OCRA Funded Research Reveals Immune Suppression in Ovarian Cancer

(October 15, 2018) This month in Nature, researchers from Weill Cornell published a study that helps to explain why the body’s natural immune response struggles to fight back against ovarian cancer. Using ovarian tumors from humans and mice, they found that T cells, vital to destroying cancerous cells, are inhibited because of the tumor’s effect … Continued

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