The DOD Omics Consortium to Study the Origins of Ovarian Cancer (DOCSOOC)
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is a silent killer, causing only vague symptoms until the disease has widely spread and is very difficult to cure. However, 90% of women can be cured when ovarian cancer is caught before it spreads. Early detection is thus critical to curing ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, no effective early diagnostic tests exist and the only prevention strategy is surgical removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes, leading to loss of fertility and early-onset menopause. In order to detect ovarian cancer at the earliest possible stage, we need to better understand how it develops in the first place. The goal of our multi-institutional consortium is to join forces so that we can share resources and work as a team to tackle this challenging but very critical problem. In the past, most doctors and scientists naturally assumed that ovarian cancer develops in the ovaries. However, about 15 years ago, members of our team helped make an exciting discovery. They found that the most common and deadly form of ovarian cancer, called high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC), actually often begins as tiny groups of abnormal cells in the fallopian tube. These precursor lesions, called serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs), are so tiny that they can only be found by careful, microscopic examination of the fallopian tubes. Ever since these STICs were discovered, our team has been dedicated to studying these tiny lesions and how STIC cells eventually spread to the ovaries where they can quickly form tumors that further spread to the rest of the body. Through this work, we have learned a lot about the lesions themselves. However, we are only beginning to understand how and why they form in the first place. Toward this end, members of our team recently began to explore the fallopian tube tissue surrounding the STICs, called the stroma, and found evidence suggesting that certain types of cells in the stroma interact with the STICs and likely play a major role in determining whether and how the lesions grow and evolve. Based on these findings, it has become very clear that we need to not only study the lesions themselves, but how the lesions interact and evolve with other cells in the stroma. Part of the reason that studying STIC lesions is so hard is that they are rare and hard to find. By joining together in this consortium project, our multi-institutional team can consolidate the collection of STIC samples and combine our technological resources to speed up the pace of our discoveries to improve the outcomes of ovarian cancer patients in the very near future. This team approach will be central to accomplishing the goals of our research project, which are to: 1. Build a shared, centralized bank of high-quality STIC specimens to perform our studies of STICs and their surrounding tissues; 2. Leverage the latest tissue characterization technologies to (a) comprehensively examine the DNA, RNA, and proteins of all cells located within and surrounding the STIC lesions and (b) identify the specific chemical changes (biomarkers) that occur within STICs and the surrounding cells that might be used to detect the lesions before they have a chance to progress; and 3. Using these biomarkers, develop tests to determine whether these can be used to detect STICs using blood or Pap specimens from women harboring the lesions. We expect that our research project will fundamentally change our understanding of how STIC lesions interact with surrounding tissues to develop, progress, and ultimately lead to ovarian cancer. Furthermore, by developing tests to detect STICs using simple screening tests, we hope to provide doctors with tools they need to stop ovarian cancer before it develops and help radically change the prognosis for thousands of women that die from ovarian cancer every year.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210852
Entities
People
- Ronny Drapkin
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Pennsylvania