Pursuing research into ovarian cancer

BREAKTHROUGH Cancer Research has launched a fundraising drive to support three new ovarian cancer research projects.  The campaign coincides with Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
As the fourth most common cancer in Ireland, with an average of 376 new cases every year, ovarian cancer kills more than 267 of these women within five years, because of a lack of treatment options.  It is one of the most stubbornly resistant cancers to the advances of modern medicine like chemotherapy. Because of this, sadly, more than seven out of every 10 women diagnosed do not survive.
Commenting on the appeal, Orla Dolan from Breakthrough Cancer Research said, “Our researchers are close to a number of breakthroughs that will revolutionise the way ovarian cancer is treated – treatment options that are specifically designed to attack chemo-resistant strains of ovarian cancer. But the simple fact is that we will not succeed in achieving any of this without an urgent injection of research funding. We are imploring people to make a generous donation during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.”
The three new treatments that Breakthrough Cancer Research are currently working on include the development of a new ‘bio-marker’ test to find out what subtype of cancer a patient has before recommending a course of treatment and to determine if people are resistant to chemotherapy before they embark on the ordeal and two novel therapies that more accurately target tumours, and cause them to die.
The Breakthrough Cancer Research research team have already developed several new treatments that can cause cell-death in drug-resistant cancers in the lab but they need support to take these treatments out of the lab and into clinical trials with patients who urgently need new treatment options.
Dr John Coulter, a gynaecological oncologist for more than 10 years, works daily with women who have ovarian cancer.
“The biggest problem we face as doctors is that we simply do not have enough effective treatment options.  Fortunately, Breakthrough Cancer Research are right now pursuing several different strands of research that promise to deliver and in fact they are already producing incredible results.  Armed with these new options, I know we will be able to save more women’s lives and these therapies have fewer side effects compared to chemotherapy, which will make a huge difference to the quality of lives. These kinds of therapies are the future of ovarian cancer treatment,” Dr Coulter said.