2003 Individual Investigator Award Recipient — Parameshwar Mahareshti, DVM

Project Summary

Despite the high initial response rates of patients with advanced ovarian cancer to aggressive primary surgical debulking followed by chemotherapy , the disease will recur in most patients. The high degree of relapse and relative incurability after is due to the genetic instability and high mutation rate of ovarian cancer cells, which together create drug resistance. Previous studies have reported that targeting the genetically stable endothelial cells of newly formed tumor blood vessels by anti-angiogensis drugs, or agents that prevent blood vessel growth, may offer a novel way to circumvent drug resistance. Studies have shown that VEGF, or vascular endothelial growth factor, affects other pathways in the cancer cell that make the cell resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel. Therefore, drugs that stop VEGF in combination with chemotherapy may offer a novel approach to achieve more effective chemotherapeutic response for ovarian carcinoma.

Bio

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