Ovarian Cancer Action

OCA Research Centre

There are three arms to the Ovarian cancer action Research Centre:

• The Ovarian cancer action Laboratories

  Focussing on the genetic and molecular changes that lead to ovarian cancer that will help us find ways of detecting, treating and hopefully preventing the disease in the first place.

• The Ovarian cancer action Joint clinical trials programme

  With Imperial College, The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research allowing access to some of the best facilities in the world for clinical research

• Programme of targeted projects

  Picking up ideas from other areas of science and medicine, even distant specialities like physics and electronics when there could be a relevance to ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer action are not funding buildings, but a range of people we believe are most likely to make the long overdue improvements to survival through early diagnosis, better treatments and even prevention. Collaboration is critical to this process. By bringing together world leading teams results can be quickly identified as meaningful and relevant.

Funds will support the infrastructure of these elements, ensuring that data from across the initial three centres is

• Collected and recorded exactly according to strict protocols, that will allow use not just by our teams, but other groups in the future too. This is an important new approach in cancer research.

• explored consistently and thoroughly from biological and other scientific aspects, using all aspects of developing knowledge.

• Comprehensive. The results, findings, and stories from all of these women will be recorded to enable scientists to build up what will be the biggest cohort of ovarian cancer information of this kind in the UK. This will benefit women across the world - enabling us to chronicle and understand this disease as well as deliver highly individualised and personal care to every patient, ensuring that the very best chances of survival can be provided.

This will involve a range of specialist roles from research nurses to people able to process biological and statistical information.

Research projects in the first phase include

• Immunotherapy

  One development in cancer research is how to get the patient's own defence mechanisms to eradicate the disease, rather than having to use toxic drugs such as chemotherapy agents:

  • WT1

    Early data shows high levels of the WT1 protein in women with ovarian cancer. Research will study white blood cells from patients with ovarian cancer, and tests carried out to see if they can react against WT1, killing the cancer cells containing this protein. Small scale vaccination and TCT gene therapy trials will be undertaken in an intial 25 patients each year.

• Novel Targets (Tumour suppressor genes)

  • OPCML

    Professor Gabra's work identified the OPCML protein, which when present, prevents the growth of Ovarian cancer. In laboratory conditions it has already been shown that OPCML slows down the growth of ovarian cancer cells, and stops ovarian cancer tumours from forming. It is known that the OPCML gene is frequently disrupted in patients with ovarian cancer.

  The team are now working to find a candidate partner that can be mimicked to create a drug which is retained in the cells, enabling the patient to fight off the cancer.

  • WWOX

    The WWOX gene is frequently switched off in ovarian cancer patients, leading to the spread of ovarian cancer throughout the abdominal cavity. Our initial research will seek to establish conclusively the previously observed WWOX activity. Professor Gabra's team has already succeeded in cloning a WWOX tumour suppressor gene. It is hoped in time that they will develop a way of turning a 'switched off' WWOX gene 'back on' to enable it to function properly again, and ensure the cancer does not spread throughout the abdominal cavity.

• Integrative'omics

  Working with leading American teams in San Franscisco and Houston, Texas, the Ovarian cancer action research team will share and analyse samples and data from three different technological perspectives, across a timespan of disease activity. This collaboration will lead to a unique mine of information that can track changes in dna/rna, gene expression and metabolite levels. The three technologies used are geneomics, transcriptomics and metabonomics and represent some of the most advanced ways of analysing data. Each centre will not only supply data, but also analyse data and learn from each other's contributions.

• Stem Cell Research

  Treatment for ovarian cancer can become hampered if the cancer becomes resistant to chemotherapy, which can occur with platinum based compound chemotherapies.

  Research will identify ovarian cancer stem cells, which are believed to be hugely important in the development of chemoresistance. These cells will be compared with responsive cancer cells to help develop drugs to overcome the platinum resistance. This will mean many more women, whilst maybe not cured of their disease, would be able to live almost with a 'chronic condition'. The role of cancer stem cells have already been identified in brain, breast and prostate tumours.

  The centre believes that in order to make progress, it must research areas that impact on the basic understanding of the disease, early detection, prevention and treatments, not just isolated areas. There will also be an active programme of psychosocial research which is being developed with the help of patients at the centre.