Research in ovarian cancer

Cancer research is a long and careful process. It often takes many years for treatments that researchers are studying to be ready for use in people with cancer.

Most research starts in a lab (laboratory) where researchers will test ideas, procedures or treatments in cells or animals. If lab researchers find promising ways to treat, manage or prevent cancer, these need to be tested in people (called clinical research). All research is an important part of learning and improving cancer care, even if it’s not studied in people.

As research is done, the results are published in scientific or medical journals and presented at conferences around the world – adding to our collective knowledge of cancer. Doctors use what they learn from research studies to offer the most effective treatments for cancer.

We are always learning more about cancer. Here are some promising research areas for ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer.

Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) is an enzyme that helps repair damage to DNA. PARP inhibitors are a type of targeted therapy that block PARP so cancer cells can’t repair their DNA, which causes them to die.

Researchers are looking at using PARP inhibitors as a maintenance therapy to prevent ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer from coming back (recurring).

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivers precisely targeted high doses of radiation to tumours in difficult or hard-to-reach areas in fewer sessions. It is also called stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR). The majority of SBRT is delivered by modern linear accelerators but can also be delivered with a CyberKnife unit. It creates many beams of radiation from different angles that meet at the tumour. The tumour itself receives a high dose of radiation, while the individual beams that travel through surrounding tissue are a low dose. This lowers the effects of radiation on healthy tissue surrounding the tumour. SBRT is given in fewer treatments than standard external radiation therapy.

Researchers are looking at whether treating recurrent ovarian cancer with SABR, chemotherapy and surgery improves overall survival in comparison to treating recurrent cancer with just surgery and chemotherapy.

Immunotherapy helps strengthen or restore the immune system’s ability to find and destroy cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is sometimes used to treat ovarian cancer that isn’t responding to chemotherapy with a platinum drug (called platinum-resistant cancer). However, there hasn’t been much success in treating ovarian cancer with immunotherapy alone. Researchers are looking at combining immunotherapy with other treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy or targeted therapy to treat platinum-resistant high-grade serous carcinoma.

CAR T-cell therapy is a very complex treatment. It involves removing some T cells from your blood, making small changes to them in the lab and then giving them back to you. 

T cells move around the body to find and destroy abnormal cells, including cancer cells. But sometimes they find it difficult to find cancer cells. In the lab, T cells can be changed to have chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface. This helps them recognize and target a specific antigen (protein) found on cancer cells. These changed T cells can be grown and multiplied in the lab and then put back into your bloodstream. When these changed T cells are returned to your body, they recognize and attack cancer cells.

Researchers are looking at CART-cell therapy as a possible treatment for ovarian cancer. This research is still in early stages.  

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a type of surgery that is performed through small incisions using a long, flexible tube with a light and camera (called a laparoscope). The standard surgery for ovarian cancer is a laparotomy, which is performed through a large incision down the middle of the abdomen. A laparotomy has a higher risk of complications than MIS and could delay adjuvant chemotherapy, lead to longer hospital stays and decrease survival.

Researchers are looking at whether MIS is a more effective treatment for advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer than a laparotomy.

When chemotherapy drugs are heated before putting them into the body, it is called hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). This is a type of intraperitoneal chemotherapy that may be given to destroy any cancer cells left behind after surgery. Once the surgeon has removed as much of the tumour as possible, a machine heats the chemotherapy and pumps it into the abdomen through a catheter. The surgeon may gently rock your body from side to side to move the chemotherapy around. After about 30 minutes to an hour, the chemotherapy is drained and the abdomen is then rinsed with a salt water (saline) solution.

HIPEC is not usually used to treat ovarian cancer. But new research has shown improved overall survival in treating advanced ovarian cancer with chemotherapy followed by HIPEC.

Researchers are continually trying to better understand cancer. What we know about cancer – how to prevent it, how it develops, how to treat it, how to help people cope with it – depends on research at many levels and in many settings.

Find out more about different kinds of cancer research.  

Some people choose to participate in cancer research through clinical trials. Clinical trials are designed to find out if a treatment or tool is safe and effective before it becomes widely available.

Find out more about clinical trials.