Kwong-Kwok Wong, PhD
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Targeted Therapy for Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma
Patients with late stage clear cell ovarian carcinoma have poorer survival rates than the more common high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas. Current therapies are not effective for this aggressive cancer. Dr. Wong‘s preliminary data suggests that targeting the mTOR pathway, which is frequently activated in cancers and also implicated in cell growth, protein synthesis, invasion, and cell metabolism, is a promising strategy to treat clear cell ovarian carcinomas. He hypothesizes that it will be more effective to kill the cancer cells if both the mTOR and c-Myc pathways are targeted. In this project, he will use a pre-clinical mouse model to investigate the efficacy of combining two inhibitors, one for each pathway, in treating clear cell ovarian carcinoma.