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OCRFA Funded Project Has Breakthrough on Therapeutic Approa...

OCRFA Funded Project Has Breakthrough on Therapeutic Approach for Rare Ovarian Cancer

July 27, 2017

(July 27, 2017) Earlier this week, in Nature Cell Biology, researchers at The Wistar Institute published their findings about a few strategies to treat clear cell carcinoma. Clear cell is a rare form of ovarian cancer that does not usually respond well to platinum-based chemotherapy, which leaves patients with few options. In most cases of … Continued

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OCRFA Funded Study Determines the Importance of Tumor Antigen

OCRFA Funded Study Determines the Importance of Tumor Antigen

May 2, 2017

(May 2, 2017) A study, published in Gynecologic Oncology, revealed the importance of tumor antigen NY-ESO-1 for ovarian cancer patients. This tumor antigen, although not normally found in healthy cells, is very prevalent in tumors such as epithelial ovarian cancers. Over the course of the 14 year study, Roswell Park tested 1,000 ovarian cancer patients … Continued

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OCRFA Funded Study Looks at the Link Between Hypertension a...

OCRFA Funded Study Looks at the Link Between Hypertension and Ovarian Cancer

April 25, 2017

(April 25, 2017) Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute used data from 15 different studies that were part of the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium, partially funded by OCRFA, to examine the relationship between epithelial ovarian cancer and hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and the medications associated with those diseases. After reviewing over 7,600 cases, it was … Continued

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OCRFA Research Finds New Genetic Variants Linked to Ovarian...

OCRFA Research Finds New Genetic Variants Linked to Ovarian Cancer

April 21, 2017

A study published in Nature Genetics has identified nine new susceptibility loci, or disease-associated alleles, for different epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) histotypes and three susceptibility loci within BRCA1 and 2 mutation carriers with EOC. Researchers, including former OCRFA grantee and current OCRFA Scientific Advisory Committee Member Andrew Berchuck, looked at data from 25,509 EOC cases … Continued

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OCRFA Research Finds New Gene Mutation Spurs Cancer Growth

OCRFA Research Finds New Gene Mutation Spurs Cancer Growth

February 7, 2017

(February 7, 2017) An OCRFA funded study, published on January 13, 2017 in Oncotarget, sheds light on EMSY, a gene that researchers at New York University Langone Medical Center now understand to have a role similar to those of BRCA1 and BRCA2. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are well known genes that, when working, help with DNA … Continued

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OCRFA Funded Research Studies DNA Repair in Ovarian Cancer ...

OCRFA Funded Research Studies DNA Repair in Ovarian Cancer Cells

January 30, 2017

(January 30, 2017) In a study funded in part by OCRFA, and published this month in Oncotarget, researchers, including first author and former OCRFA grantee Petar Jelinic, PhD, studied EMSY, a putative BRCAness gene, and its role in the suppression of DNA damage repair in ovarian cancer cells. The EMSY gene is amplified in approximately … Continued

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OCRFA Awards $5.6 Million in Scientific Research Grants for...

OCRFA Awards $5.6 Million in Scientific Research Grants for 2017

January 20, 2017

(January 20, 2017) OCRFA has awarded $5.6 million in new scientific research grants for ovarian cancer, bringing our total investment in life-saving research to over $75 million. This year’s grants have been awarded to twenty top scientists at thirteen leading medical centers across the country. “Our 2017 grantees are among the best and brightest working … Continued

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Five Important Discoveries from OCRFA-Funded Researchers in...

Five Important Discoveries from OCRFA-Funded Researchers in 2016

December 15, 2016

OCRFA-funded scientists are working hard to save women’s lives. In medical institutions across the country, they investigate the origins and biology of ovarian cancer, find new ways to identify and prevent the disease, and discover better treatments. In 2016, our grantees made significant advances in the fight against ovarian cancer, including: Progress is being made … Continued

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OCRFA Funded Research Identifies Protein Group Responsible ...

OCRFA Funded Research Identifies Protein Group Responsible For Senescence’s Negative Side Effects

November 3, 2016

(Nov. 3, 2016) Senescence is the state when normal, healthy cells no longer have the ability to divide, which can occur during chemotherapy or when cancer genes within that cell are activated. Senescence can be very useful, for example, when one wants to stop cancer cells from rapidly dividing, but there can be negative side … Continued

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OCRFA Funded Study Explores New Role of Estrogen in Anti-Tu...

OCRFA Funded Study Explores New Role of Estrogen in Anti-Tumor Immunity

October 31, 2016

(October 31, 2016) Estrogen signaling is a known factor in how certain estrogen receptive (ER positive) tumors grow in breast and ovarian cancers. That signaling, which can promote malignant tumor growth, can sometimes be effectively treated with anti-estrogen therapy, such as tamoxifen. What is less understood, and currently being studied at the Wistar Institute, is … Continued

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OCRFA Research Shows Drugs Help Anti-Tumor Immunity

OCRFA Research Shows Drugs Help Anti-Tumor Immunity

October 5, 2016

(October 5, 2016) A team of researchers, including senior author and former OCRFA grantee Rugang Zhang, PhD, have been studying the relationship between PD-1 and PD-L1, a protein and an accompanying molecule, and t-cells, which are a body’s natural defense against tumor growth. PD-L1 can be found on both cancer cells and healthy cells but, … Continued

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OCRFA Research Sheds Light on Role of STAT3 in Ovarian Cancer

OCRFA Research Sheds Light on Role of STAT3 in Ovarian Cancer

June 17, 2016

(June 17, 2016) An OCRFA funded study recently published in Oncogene investigated the role that protein STAT3 plays in the activation and metastasis of ovarian cancer cells. Many women with ovarian cancer develop fluid in the abdomen, which contains cancer cells. Those cells, coupled with a high activation of STAT3, can spread to other areas … Continued

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