Research’s race against time to stop the high death rate from ovarian cancer
Cancer is not one disease, but the sum of many and very diverse diseases, as some tumors have a very promising prognosis, while others carry a heavy burden of high mortality. This is the case ovarian cancerwhich today, 8 May, celebrates its World Day, seeking to advance hand in hand with science, since continues to be one of the causes of the highest mortality among women.because, despite the low incidence compared to other tumors (about 3700 cases per year), causes 2,100 deaths per year.
Ovarian cancer is a type of tumor that has a good prognosis if diagnosed early, but Often the diagnosis is made in the later stages.. This makes therapeutic treatment difficult. For this reason, new treatments are needed that are potent and effective against tumor cells while minimizing side effects on healthy cells.
In this scenario, the CRIS Cancer Foundation, a reference organization for research into the disease, along with medical researchers and patients, is speaking out on this day Ovarian cancer is a tumor in women with a high mortality rate that requires early diagnosis and new treatment methods. It is for this reason that the CRIS Cancer Foundation funds various research projects on ovarian cancer, among which the doctor-led project stands out. Atanasio Pandiellafrom the Cancer Research Center of Salamanca (CIC) and Alberto Ocaña Clinical Hospital of San Carlos, is based on a type of immunotherapy that uses antibodies linked to drugs.. In addition, he is funding a project to develop CART-T cell therapy against ovarian cancer, led by Dr. Diego Salas (University of Navarra and Harvard Clinic)
Promising research
The team formed by Drs. Pandiella and Ocaña, directors of the CRIS project on breast cancer and the CRIS project on ovary (developed at the Center for Cancer Research, CIC, Salamanca and at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital), specialized in an innovative type of therapy that is powerful, safe and aims to minimize the side effects of therapy: antibody drug-associated antibodies (or ADCs). Antibodies are like biologically guided missiles that target and bind to a specific molecule with great precision. We can use this to create antibodies that bind to molecules that are only found in tumor cells, not healthy ones. Identifying molecules in this way is challenging, but if achieved, antibodies could be targeted against tumor cells with great selectivity. If we add a powerful chemotherapy drug to this, we get the equivalent of a remote-controlled missile filled with explosives that binds only to tumor cells and does not affect healthy cells.
The CRIS-funded research group is an international leader in the development of this type of medicine—drug-linked antibodies. They are currently developing three antibodies against ovarian cancer, and the one that is at a later stage that they intend to develop for clinical trials is an antibody that they have previously shown could be very useful for triple cancer patients mammary gland. . negative.
The target of this antibody is CD98hca molecule that appears to be found in large quantities on the surface of ovarian cancer cells. The laboratory results from using these biological missiles against CD98hc are impressive.Therefore, the laboratory is now preparing to begin the journey to the clinic, that is, to women with ovarian cancer.
Hope for CAR-T in Ovarian Cancer
On the other hand, the CRIS Cancer Foundation is also promoting a project led by Dr. Diego Salas Benito, who received an award from the CRIS Out-Back program that allows him to spend several years abroad – in this case at Harvard – and return with a contract to laboratory in Spain, guaranteeing the continuity of his career in our country.
In particular, Dr. Salas is working on create CAR-T therapy against ovarian tumors. CAR-T cells are treatments made from patients’ immune system cells that are genetically modified with a detector that helps them identify and destroy tumor cells). Although these treatments have been shown to be very effective for blood tumors, good results have not yet been achieved for solid tumors such as ovarian tumors. and this is an important problem that Dr. Salas is currently trying to solve.
Living with ovarian cancer
Although ovarian cancer has a low survival rate, there are also examples that it is possible to live after beating the disease. This is the case Pepa Montenegro, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 3 years ago, when she was only 49 years old.. However, she was already well aware of the meaning of the word cancer, since she was not the only woman in her family with this type of tumor.
In your case it’s kind of hereditary cancer with BRCA1 gene mutationwhich poses a higher risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. His sister died of breast cancer, and his grandmother and aunt died of ovarian cancer.. This is the same genetic mutation that Angelina Jolie suffered when she lost her mother (from whom she inherited the mutation) and gave her cancer.
When Pepa receives her diagnosis, she undergoes prophylactic surgery to remove her ovaries and breasts, forcing her to have surgeries up to four times in the same year. Following the surgical process, she received chemotherapy for six months and then maintenance treatment for another two years, which ended on January 10 with good news as Pepa is now undergoing follow-up visits every four months and can lead a normal life.