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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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 target therapeutically. Development of an effective therapy against MYC activity […]
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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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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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Melissa Fishel, PhDIndiana University School of Medicine Enhancement of ovarian cancer to chemotherapeutics agents, cisplatin and TMZ, using small molecules, BG and MX With the exception of a small percentage of patients presenting with stage IA/IB ovarian cancer, surgery along is inadequate treatment. However, virtually all patients who die from ovarian cancer have intrinsic or […]
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Jean-Bernard Lazaro, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute Targeting DNA repair genes and the nucleolar proteome to increase cisplatin sensitivity in ovarian cancer Patients with ovarian cancer who are treated with cisplatin often develop resistance to the drug, as cisplatin acts by damaging cellular DNA, which in turn induces apoptosis. Repair of cisplatin-induced DNA damage by a few […]
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