Search Results for brca

The Relationship Between Cytotoxic CD8 Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes and Overall Survival in High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

(December 11, 2017) A study by the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium, published in JAMA Oncology, looked at the association between cytotoxic CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and overall survival with certain types of ovarian cancer. After an immunohistochemical analysis of 5,577 patients, researchers saw a strong correlation between high levels of CD8+ TILs and longer survival rates…

Leading ovarian cancer organization announces 2017 honorees

Largest private funder of ovarian cancer research recognizes top researchers and community leaders NEW YORK — Today, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRFA), the nation’s leading ovarian cancer research, advocacy and patient support organization, announces this year’s winners of its research and survivor awards at its annual conference. OCRFA honors two outstanding researchers for their cutting-edge work on diagnosis…

USPSTF Does Not Recommend Ovarian Cancer Screening for General Population

(July 19, 2017) The United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) has once again recommended against screening for ovarian cancer in asymptomatic, average risk women. The draft statement, which was published on July 18th, does not apply to women who are positive for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations, who have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer…

OCRFA Research Finds New Genetic Variants Linked to Ovarian Cancer

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 and 40,941 control cases…

Niraparib Approved for Maintenance Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

(March 28, 2017) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved niraparib (ZEJULA, TESARO, Inc.), poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Niraparib is the first PARP inhibitor to be approved by the FDA that does not require BRCA mutation or other biomarker testing…

Screening High-Risk Women Catches More Early Stage Ovarian Cancers

(March 15, 2017) Results from a large study showed that screening for ovarian cancer in high-risk patients led to detection of significantly more early-stage disease as compared with the year after screening ended. However, it is not yet known whether this screening approach would improve survival in screened high-risk women. The results of the study were published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology…

OCRFA Research Finds New Gene Mutation Spurs Cancer Growth

(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 damage repair…

Rucaparib Extends PFS in Ovarian Cancer

(February 3, 2017) Results from the ARIEL2 trial, funded in part by OCRFA’s grant to the Stand Up to Cancer Ovarian Cancer Dream Team, were recently published in The Lancet. The goal of the trial was to test if the efficacy of rucaparib, an oral PARP inhibitor, was dependent on the type of tumor mutation. The international study participants…

OCRFA Funded Research Studies DNA Repair in Ovarian Cancer Cells

(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 11% of high-grade ovarian cancer patients…

OCRFA Awards $5.6 Million in Scientific Research Grants for 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 in the field," says Dr…

Priyanka Verma headshot

Priyanka Verma, PhD

Dr. Priyanka Verma is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine at the Washington University, School of Medicine. She completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. Dr. Verma pursued her postdoctoral training with Dr. Roger A Greenberg at the University of Pennsylvania where she was the recipient of an OCRA Ann and Sol Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award…