Positive news for patients with treatment-resistant ovarian cancer
Women with ovarian cancer who have not responded to standard-of-care chemotherapy face a formidable challenge. Dr Gwo Yaw Ho, Head of Cancer Immunology Laboratory, and his team identified new and effective treatment approaches that will be trialled in women with treatment-resistant ovarian cancer. The research findings have the potential to significantly improve outcomes for women who currently have no other effective therapies.
The drug eribulin is a type of chemotherapy that disrupts normal cell processes, which are essential for cell growth. The team has discovered eribulin is more effective in killing fast growing, aggressive, and treatment resistant ovarian cancer than standard chemotherapy, which kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA. This means eribulin can be used as an effective treatment for women with treatment-resistant ovarian cancer.
The team is designing a clinical trial to study the efficacy of eribulin in comparison with standard chemotherapy.
Over 3,800 women in Australia are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and nearly 80% are diagnosed at a very advanced stage. At the time of diagnosis, about 15% of women will already have treatment-resistant ovarian cancer, and unfortunately, all women with recurrent ovarian cancer will eventually succumb to their disease due to the inevitable emergence of drug resistance. Currently, effective treatments for women with chemo-resistant disease are lacking, making this study important to enable the development of new and promising treatment options.
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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