A cure for ovarian
cancer
|
QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
|
FRIDAY, 05 OCTOBER 2012
|
.....................Sr_Sports
Ovarian cancer takes the lives of nearly 900
Australian women each year. It's called the silent killer because by the time
most cases are detected, the cancer has spread to other vital organs throughout
the abdominal area.
Now QUT scientists together with researchers
from India's National Centre for Cell Sciences are hot on the trail of the
genetic pathway that regulates ovarian cancer stem cells.
Dr Ying Dong, a QUT research fellow in the
School of Biomedical Sciences in QUT's IHBI (Institute of Health and Biomedical
Innovation) said ovarian cancer was difficult to treat and fewer than 30 per
cent of women survived after five years.
She said 1,272 Australian women were diagnosed
with ovarian cancer in 2009 and that number was expected to be 1,640 in 2020
according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Research by Dr Dong and Professor Judith
Clements in the Cancer Research Program at IHBI has shown that the secondary
tumour cells of ovarian cancer are resistant to the current chemotherapy.
"Surgery alone cannot remove all the
tumour once it has spread to the other organs in the abdomen," Dr Dong
said.
"Patients are given chemotherapy but the
tumours eventually become resistant to it and recur.
"The key to fighting this cancer could be
to identify the molecular or gene pathways that regulate it, such as the stem
cells. They are the cells that change and build resistance to the
chemotherapy."
Dr Dong said QUT's research collaborator in
India, Dr Sharmila Bapat, and her team were the first in the world to identify
ovarian cancer stem cells and predict potential gene pathways using
bioinformatic analysis.
They will use the 3D-suspension model that Dr
Dong developed to mimic the microenvironment of the metastatic tumour to study
ovarian cancer cells' response to chemotherapy. Dr Dong will also use the model
with cancer cells taken from patients with this tumour.
"Together, we will investigate the role
of these pathways and test their potential as therapeutic targets," Dr
Dong said.
"We hope we will be
able to help design more effective treatment for women with ovarian cancer with
this knowledge."
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