Seeking treatment solutions
This new project, led by Professor Charlie Gourley at The University of Edinburgh, aims to contribute to improving treatment options for low grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC).
LGSOC is a less common type of ovarian cancer that predominantly affects younger women and is underrepresented in clinical trials.
It is slow growing but is typically discovered at an advanced stage. LGSOC is also resistant to conventional platinum-based chemotherapy in around 75 per cent of cases.
Women with LGSOC that comes back or whose LGSOC isn’t effectively treated by platinum-based chemotherapy can access a different treatment drug called Trametinib. But Trametinib doesn’t work for everyone, meaning additional targeted treatments are needed.
This two-year project aims to find and test treatments called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a new type of drug that is improving patient survival across multiple cancer types.
ADCs are drug molecules that have three parts, including an antibody that locates and binds to cancer cells, a ‘payload’ that kills cancer cells selectively and a joiner section that links these two parts together.
What does this project hope to achieve?
This project will build on recent research that found potential targets for ADCs on LGSOC cells.
It is not currently known how many women's tumours have these targets or what they tell us about the genetics of LGSOC. This project aims to fill gaps in knowledge such as these and identify whether ADCs can help benefit patients with LGSOC.
The research team plan to use tumour samples from a cohort of 105 women with LGSOC to identify which women are likely to benefit from ADCs.
Many of these tumour samples have undergone genetic sequencing to understand their genetic landscape, and more genetic profiling will be done during this project.
We are very grateful to Target Ovarian Cancer and their supporters for giving us this opportunity to identify the antibody-drug conjugates which are most appropriate for use in low grade serous ovarian cancer. We plan to use this information to prioritise the agents for testing in a future clinical trial."
Women affected by low-grade ovarian cancer, a rarer form of the disease, deserve access to the best possible treatment and care. Supporting this research is part of our broader work to improve treatment options for women and create a world where ovarian cancer doesn't limit life."
