Erin George, MD
University of Pennsylvania
2016 Skacel Family Scholar
Targeting the ATR/CHK1 pathway in high grade serous ovarian cancer with ATR inhibitors
New treatments are needed for recurrent ovarian cancer, a subset of which is more aggressive than the original cancer and has no effective treatment. Aggressive recurrent cancers rely on DNA repair pathways, involving proteins called ATR and CHK1, to repair damage to DNA caused by chemotherapy. Dr. George will target this pathway with a novel ATR inhibitor to stop cell growth and tumor formation, using new ovarian cancer models derived from patients’ recurrent tumors. These findings may have major clinical implications for the treatment of this aggressive and often chemotherapy resistant type of ovarian cancer.