Capucine Van Rechem, PhDMassachusetts General Hospital2014 Skacel Family Scholar Copy Gain and Resistance: Uncovering Roles for Epigenetic Regulation in Ovarian Cancer A major issue in the treatment of ovarian cancer is the development of resistance to standard chemotherapy. Such drug resistance has been linked to the gain of a specific genomic region, 1q12-1q21. Dr. Van […]
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Pradeep Chaluvally Raghavan, PhDM.D. Anderson Cancer Center Unraveling the oncogenic effects of amplified miRNAs in High Grade Serous Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cancer cells are abnormal partly by having increased copies of certain genes (DNA copy number aberrations), which is an important hallmark of high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Non-protein coding genes such as microRNAs have recently […]
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Michael Goldberg, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute2014 Kirwin-Hinton Family Scholar Unraveling the role of ATR in DNA repair and ovarian cancer therapy The majority of cancer therapies attempt to kill tumor cells using drugs that are often toxic. Many patients relapse because residual cells can establish new drug-resistant tumors. Unlike traditional therapies, the immune system can adapt […]
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Dipanjan Chowdhury, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute OC130658: Noncoding RNAs as Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers in BRCA 1/2-Mutated and Wildtype Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Patients with epithelial ovarian cancer that carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations can successfully be treated with platinum chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors because the BRCA1/2 mutations cause a defect in DNA repair. This allows the […]
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Yunfei Wen, PhDUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center2014 Margaret Sherman Bridge Funding Award Promoting Autophagic Catabolism in Chemoresistant Ovarian Cancer Cells routinely remove unnecessary or damaged cellular components by a process called autophagy in which small pockets of enzymes inside cells degrade those components and recycle them for other uses. Dr. Wen has discovered […]
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Bin Zhang, MD, PhDNorthwestern University Treating ovarian cancer with novel ecto-5’nucleotidase (CD73) inhibitors Tumors have elaborate suppressive mechanisms against host immune system to enhance their survival. Ovarian tumors highly express a protein called CD73 that limits anti-tumor immune response in order to promote tumor growth. Dr. Zhang‘s recent research demonstrates that CD73 may serve as […]
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Kwong-Kwok Wong, PhDUniversity 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, […]
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Steffan Nawrocki, PhDUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio A new strategy to overcome drug resistance in ovarian cancer Platinum-based chemotherapy is prevalently used for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The prognosis for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer is extremely poor, and new treatments for this disease are urgently needed. Dr. Nawrocki‘s preliminary […]
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Peter Kuhn, PhDUniversity of Southern California Single-cell molecular profiling of biopsies of epithelial cancer Next-generation sequencing of single cancer cells identified from the blood of ovarian cancer patients can potentially guide treatment decisions, identify recurrence early, and lead to earlier and more accurate diagnosis of the disease. Dr. Kuhn will use a “fluid biopsy” to […]
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Mythreye Karthikeyan, PhDUniversity of South Carolina Specific targeting of Inhibin in ovarian cancers lacking the Type-III TGF-β receptor Ovarian cancer is associated with a high degree of heterogeneity (meaning the tumors differ from patient to patient), highlighting the importance of developing individualized treatment. Changes in the levels of the growth factors belonging to the Transforming […]
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