Understanding and targeting dormancy in ovarian cancer

High-grade serous carcinomas (HGS) account for 70% of all ovarian cancer cases. But not all HGS tumours are the same; they can be further subdivided to make personalized treatment decisions. Even when HGS tumours respond to treatment, they often recur, possibly because some cancer cells become dormant after the first successful treatments.

Learning more about this process requires tumour samples taken during and shortly after treatment. That’s why, with funding from the Canadian Cancer Society, Dr. Francis Rodier and his team are using ovarian cancer biobanks to reconstruct the cancer tissue one cell at a time. The researchers believe the dormant cells and their local environment both hold undetected vulnerabilities – and that targeting those vulnerabilities could prevent treatment resistance and disease recurrence. The team will collect samples from people with ovarian cancer during or shortly after treatment in clinical trials to gain the necessary information to understand dormant cells. Bringing together technologies so new they didn’t exist a few years ago; the researchers will identify vulnerabilities in HGS cells during treatment. Then, they will test ways of targeting each tumour’s specific weak points to prevent the cancer from coming back.

The team will also strengthen a network of scientists in 3 Canadian provinces, taking advantage of available research lab resources, clinical expertise and knowledge users. This project could uncover new treatment options that would advance personalized treatments for people with ovarian cancer, improving long-term outcomes and saving lives.