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ASCO Annual Meeting 2019

Highlights from American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Annual Meeting

OCRA is back from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago, where doctors and researchers met to discuss the latest in the care of women with ovarian cancer. A few highlights: Affordable Care Act facilitates earlier diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer Medicaid expansion narrows racial gaps in access to timely ovarian cancer care Single-agent carboplatin not a good choice for elderly ovarian cancer patients Evaluating Olaparib for BRCA Wild-Type Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Benefit of Olaparib vs Chemo in Platinum-Sensitive Relapsed Ovarian Cancer Niraparib plus bevacizumab significantly improves PFS in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer Progress is being made in the fight against ovarian cancer…

Digital Materials

Looking for an easy way to learn about our programs, services, and impact? Want to spread the word about ovarian cancer, and how to help? Look no further! Click to enlarge the below infographics, and learn more about OCRA’s programs and ways to get involved. To download onto your computer, click the “Download” link to view each graphic in English or in Spanish…

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 our support at every stage of their careers in a severely underfunded field,” said Audra Moran…

Modeling Autologous TIL Therapy in Novel PARP Resistant PDX Model for Ovarian Cancer

With only a 46 percent 5-year survival rate, ovarian cancer is the most lethal of all gynecological malignancies. High grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSOC) are the most common type of ovarian cancer. Nearly half of all HGSOC have a mutation in one of the genes related to homologous recombination, which is the mechanism for non-error prone double stranded DNA break repair…

John Krais, PhD

Dr. John Krais is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Neil Johnson at Fox Chase Cancer Center. John received his BS degree in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 and PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 2014. As a graduate student working with Dr. Roger Harrison, John explored novel methodologies for targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics and focused on the preclinical development of strategies for targeting tumor vasculature…

Cyclin E and BRD4 as Markers for a New PARPi Drug Combination

Ovarian Cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer in the United States. Treatment options for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have recently expanded to include Poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. PARP inhibitors work best in women who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer caused by BRCA (BReast CAncer susceptibility gene) mutations. A subset of women, who do not have BRCA mutations often have worse outcomes due to increased expression of genes Cyclin E and Bromodomain and extraterminal 4 (BDR4)…

DNA Repair Pathways as Targets for Therapy-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

MMR deficiency is associated with increased risk of developing ovarian cancer and is the most common cause of hereditary ovarian cancer after Brca1 and Brca2 mutations. A functional MMR system is required for the detection of damaged DNA created by cisplatin. When MMR is deficient, cells can continue to proliferate in spite of DNA damage caused by cisplatin…

researcher in lab coat looking through microscope

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 antitumor process that was STING (Stimulator of Interferon Genes) dependent…

FDA Approves Olaparib for Frontline Maintenance Treatment in Ovarian Cancer

(December 20, 2018) Earlier this year a phase III clinical trial, known as SOLO-1, showed that frontline olaparib (Lynparza) can reduce the risk of disease progression or death by up to 70% in women with BRCA 1 or 2 positive, advanced stage epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers. Those included in the study received cytoreductive surgery and had a partial or full response to platinum based chemotherapy before starting olaparib…

Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trials

For Some, Statin Use Can Decrease the Risk of Ovarian Cancer

(November 13, 2018) The International Journal of Cancer recently published a study that explored the use of statins, which reduces one’s lipids, and their effect on ovarian cancer risk. After comparing a group of 2,040 women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer to a group of 2,100 women without the disease, it was found that statins reduce one’s risk of ovarian cancer by 32 percent…

science lab closeup

Maintenance olaparib Improves Progression-Free Survival in Phase III Clinical Trial

(October 23, 2018) Olaparib, or Lynparza, was shown to increase progression-free survival (PFS) by almost three years in an ongoing trial known as SOLO-1. The women in the study are BRCA 1 or 2 positive and newly diagnosed with an advanced stage of high grade serous or endometroid ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer…

Women with Medicare Found to Have Low Genetic Testing Rates

(August 23, 2018) Researchers from Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research recently conducted a study which focused on Medicare Part B recipients, those above the age of 65 or disabled, who were eligible for genetic testing. More specifically, they looked at women who had been seen at health centers in the Southeast United States between the years 2002 and 2009 and diagnosed with breast cancer…