IN A NEW COLLABORATION, the American Cancer Society and the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance have joined forces to fund multidisciplinary research projects to explore new ways of detecting, treating, and preventing ovarian cancer relapse and to improve quality of life among those diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The two organizations are committing to a total investment of $8 million to sustain four research teams over 4 years.
Ovarian cancer accounts for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death overall among women. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2019, about 22,530 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and about 13,980 women will die of the disease.
Four out of five women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have advanced disease, which is associated with an increased risk of persistent and recurrent cancer following initial treatment. Although advanced ovarian cancer can be treatable, it is rarely curable. There is currently no way to predict which women in remission will experience short-term vs long-term survival from ovarian cancer, or which women are at risk for high symptom burden during survivorship.
This joint initiative seeks to raise funds to support four multidisciplinary research teams to investigate biologic, clinical, and psychosocial factors associated with ovarian cancer outcomes. A better understanding of these factors will lead to new avenues for detecting, treating, and preventing ovarian cancer relapse as well as for improving quality of life. Once initial funding is acquired, a request for proposal/critical peer-review process will select the four research teams. ■
