Utthara Nayar, PhDJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore, MD Estrogen receptor mutations as a novel biomarker for response to endocrine therapy in ovarian cancer Dr. Nayar is pursuing a fast track to the clinical testing of a new treatment for low-grade serous ovarian cancers (LGSOCs). Some LGSOCs develop mutations in the estrogen receptor (ER) molecule and stop responding […]
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Targeting STAT3 Signaling for Immune Checkpoint Blockade to Augment PARP Inhibitor Therapy in BRCA-Mutated Ovarian Cancer PARP inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors are two promising new therapies for ovarian cancer patients who have mutations in the BRCA gene. BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer cells produce a protein called PD-L1 to avoid being recognized and killed by immune […]
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Weei-Chin Lin, MD, PhD Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas Novel approaches to target MYC in ovarian cancer Many ovarian cancers express the cancer-causing MYC protein at unusually high levels. The activation of MYC is a hallmark of cancer initiation, progression, and resistance to therapy. Unfortunately, MYC is one of the most difficult proteins to […]
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Combining MEK inhibition with oncolytic viral therapy as a novel treatment for low grade serous ovarian carcinoma Low grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSC) is a rare form of ovarian cancer accounting for about 5% of ovarian cancer cases. While LGSC grows relatively slowly, it is stubbornly resistant to almost all therapeutics. As a result, outcomes […]
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Development of RAD51 degraders for ovarian cancer treatment PARP inhibitor drugs have had a major impact on the clinical treatment of ovarian cancer in recent years, but they do not work in all patients. Many tumors have genetic mutations that make the tumor unable to repair damage to its DNA. PARP inhibitors exploit this fact […]
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Matjaz Barboric, PhDUniversity of Helsinki 2020 James A. Harting Pilot Study Award Targeting transcriptional kinases for novel ovarian cancer therapies Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer. Identifying druggable Achilles’ heels of ovarian cancer can lead to new treatments. In order to do this, Dr. Barboric will target critical enzymes called cyclin-dependent kinases (tCDKs) which […]
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Ilana Chefetz, PhDUniversity of Minnesota – Twin Cities2020 Lynda’s Fund Pilot Study Award AMPK-alpha-like proteins in a high grade serous ovarian cancer Although epithelial ovarian cancer responds well to initial treatment, the cancer recurs in a significant number of women. Once ovarian cancer recurs it is generally lethal, with fewer than 10% of patients surviving […]
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Joe Delaney, PhDMedical University of South Carolina2020 Pilot Study Award Slowing ovarian cancer evolution by LINE-1 inhibition High grade serous ovarian cancer is unique from other cancer types in that it has high levels of a type of DNA called LINE-1 elements. LINE-1 elements are known as selfish DNA because they can make copies of […]
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Hua E Yu, PhDBeckman Research Institute of the City of Hope2020 Karla Mooers Pilot Study Award Targeting dePARylation activates anti-ovarian cancer immune responses The FDA has approved several types of PARP inhibitors for treating ovarian cancer. These drugs are especially effective at killing tumor cells that cannot repair damage that occurs to their DNA. One […]
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Matthew Wakefield, PhDThe Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research2020 Rosser Family Pilot Study Award Identifying all mutations in the PARP1 catalytic domain that impact PARP inhibitor action PARP inhibitors are a class of drugs that are becoming a major part of treatment for high grade ovarian cancer. These drugs kill cancer cells by […]
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