Australia Uses Breast Cancer Research Strategies To Combat Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian Cancer Australia and the Peter McCallum Cancer Center have invested an initial $860K to revamp and refurbish efforts to research and develop treatments for ovarian cancer, according to ABC Australia.

Alison Amos, chief executive for Ovarian Cancer Australia announced the launch of the new initiative at an international gynecological conference in Sydney, the Guardian reports.

There, Amos expressed her frustration that treatments for ovarian cancer had not shown improvement in recent years. It is her hope that using previously successful models and strategies could change that.

Amos explained, “Similar national plans were published for breast cancer and prostate cancer 10 years ago and these diseases have seen great strides forward in research.”

According to the Guardian, new breakthroughs have pushed the five-year survival rate for patients with breast cancer to 89 percent, more than double the survival rate for ovarian cancer patients (43 percent).

Understanding the pathology of the disease is the main priority of the plan, the Herald Sun reports. “More research is needed into how ovarian cancer initiates, why it develops rapidly in some and not others, and how we can circumvent resistance to treatment.”

The initial investment of funds will be put towards distinguishing different subgroups of ovarian cancer and tailoring clinical trials to suit their individual molecular characteristics.

Clare Scott, professor at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research explains to ABC, “What we know about ovarian cancer now is there are many more subgroups than we previously thought — that’s come from understanding the gene wiring of the cancers.”

In addition to diversified clinical trials, the national plan called for increased fundraising efforts, increased collaboration between scientists, and attention towards developing an early detection test.

ABC reports that early stages of ovarian cancer show no symptoms and are more difficult for patients to detect physically than breast cancers. This is the primary reason that the cancer is so deadly.