Jason Wilken, PhD, BS
Yale University
Overcoming Primary Herceptin Resistance in Ovarian Cancer
Herceptin, a therapeutic antibody that targets ErbB2 and has a well-tolerated safety profile has proven exceptionally useful as a treatment for ErbB2+ breast cancer patients. Surprisingly, Herceptin has proven to be ineffective as a treatment option for ovarian cancer. Dr. Wilken, with the guidance of his mentors Dr. Andre Baron and Dr. Nita Maihle, will study why ovarian tumors and cells exhibit primary resistance to Herceptin treatment and test the hypothesis that primary Herceptin resistant ovarian cancers become predictably susceptible to alternate ErbB-targeted therapies, based on Herceptin-induced changes in ErbB receptor expression.