Jia Liu, PhDUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Science2016 Cookie Laughlin Bridge Funding Award Myxoma Virus in Combination with Chemotherapy for Treatment of Ovarian Cancer Resistance to chemotherapy occurs in the vast majority of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is a major barrier for effective treatment of the disease. Additionally, cells called tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) […]
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Srinivas Sridhar, PhDNortheastern University Targeted PARP Inhibitor Nanotherapy for Ovarian Cancer PARP inhibitor therapy has shown promising results in clinical trials for ovarian cancer, but oral administration of these drugs requires high doses leading to toxic side effects, and very little drug actually reaches the tumors. Dr. Sridhar and colleagues have synthesized nano-scale formulations of […]
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Robert Jaffe, MDUniversity of California San Francisco Inhibition of Telomerase to Treat Advanced Ovarian Cancer Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains and protects the ends of chromosomes, the telomeres. While telomerase is constrained in many normal adult cells, a majority of cancers appear to depend on active telomerase for their growth, making this enzyme an […]
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Mark Poznansky, MD, PhDMassachusetts General Hospital Antagonism of SDF-1 production by ovarian cancer and tumor immune control Immune cell migration into ovarian cancer is an important way in which the tumor is recognized as abnormal and killed by the immune system. Ovarian cancer tumors produce high amounts of a protein called SDF-1, thereby preventing immune […]
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Mark Nachtigal, PhDUniversity of Manitoba Autocrine bone morphogenic protein (BMP) inhibition: a novel therapeutic strategy for ovarian cancer? Protein growth factors belonging to the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) superfamily, which include bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs), influence the growth, motility, and invasive potential of ovarian cancer cells. Blocking of these pathways may produce a more […]
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Ingegerd Hellstrom, MD, PhDUniversity of Washington Silencing TGFbeta to increase the immunogenicity of ovarian carcinoma cells This study aims to improve a woman’s prognosis by adding a therapeutic vaccination to encourage the body to mount an anti-tumor response using the secreted growth regulatory protein TGFβ (transforming growth factor). Dr. Hellstrom has shown that a mouse […]
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Andrew Wilson, PhDVanderbilt University Medical Center The Role of the Nuclear Orphan Receptor TR3/Nur77 in Ovarian Cancer Preliminary results have led to the hypothesis that TR3 is a marker of chemotherapy-induced apoptosis and a potential therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. In this study, three aims will be investigated by Dr. Wilson and his team. First, […]
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Identification of drugs that increase cisplatin uptake by inhibiting CTR2 CTR2 has shown to be a particularly attractive target against which to develop a drug that both inhibits tumor growth and sensitizes to platinum drugs. In this project, Dr. Howell will establish a robust assay to evaluate the function of CTR2 that can be used […]
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Janet Sawicki, PhDLankenau Institute for Medical Research Utilizing HuR to Combat Chemotherapeutic Resistance in Ovarian Cancer The molecular basis underlying the range of ovarian cancer patient responses to chemotherapeutic agents is poorly understood. This project will address the urgent need to stratify ovarian cancer patients for therapy and enhance currently available treatment strategies. Recently, Dr. […]
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Lupe Salazar, MDUniversity of Washington Adoptive Transfer of Tumor Specific Th1 Cells Derived from Vaccine-Primed Patients Achieved Clinical Benefits Adoptive immunotherapy can induce cancer regression but rarely results in cure. We have infused HER2-specific Th1 cells in breast cancer patients, and 50% of patients had a partial or complete response to the treatment. Dr. Salazar […]
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