1998 Recipient — Ilana Cass, MD

Project Summary

Primary peritoneal and primary ovarian carcinomas share many histologic and clinical features. The goal of Dr. Cass’s project is to characterize the genetic alterations seen in primary peritoneal cancer and compare them to those identified in primary ovarian carcinoma to determine their relevance for genetic screening and as predictors of theraputic outcome. Such information could help in treatment planning of all women with ovarian cancer and allow stratification of therapy according to disease virulence.

Areas of Research:

Bio

Ilana Cass, MD, is vice-chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She is a faculty physician for the Division of Gynecologic Oncology within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program. Dr. Cass also serves as an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) School of Medicine.

Board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and in gynecologic oncology, Dr. Cass has been awarded investigative grants from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation and pharmaceutical companies. Her primary area of research interest involves genetic alterations as prognostic markers in ovarian cancer.

Board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and in gynecologic oncology, Dr. Cass has been awarded investigative grants from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the American Cancer Society, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation and pharmaceutical companies. Her primary area of research interest involves genetic alterations as prognostic markers in ovarian cancer.

Dr. Cass received her bachelor’s degree from Brown University in Providence, RI, and her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Yale/New Haven Hospital in Connecticut and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.