Dan Peer, Ph.D.
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv, Israel
Project: Developing a novel therapeutic modality to chemo-resistance epithelial ovarian cancer.
Research Areas: Novel Therapy, Chemotherapy Resistance
Summary:
Chemotherapy resistance is one of the biggest challenges for the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer. One promising method to reliably test new anticancer drugs and understand response to chemotherapy is to develop 3-dimentional (3D) models known as spheroids from patient tumor cells. Dr. Peer and colleagues have developed a unique collection of over 20 spheroid 3D models from epithelial ovarian cancer patients who either responded or did not respond to chemotherapy. Using spheroids established from patients, Dr. Peer found increased amounts of several proteins that associated with resistance to chemotherapy. In this study, Dr. Peer proposes to develop a laboratory platform which uses engineered personalized nanoparticles that contain molecules called siRNAs, which reduce expression of some of these proteins, combined with chemotherapy. This will allow Dr. Peer to test if and how well cancer spheroids can be killed with this therapy approach. siRNA based treatment may uncover mechanisms that help us understand how the tumor progresses and responds to chemotherapy. The work may set the groundwork for developing novel and more effective treatments of epithelial ovarian cancer based on precision nano-medicine.