Modelling ovarian cancer

Scientists at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), funded by Cancer Council Queensland, are conducting research into the deadliest form of ovarian cancer. In Queensland each year, around 248 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and about 137 women die from the disease.

Distinguished Professor Judith Clements said serous ovarian cancer spreads rapidly “from the ovaries to the abdominal cavity where the tumour cells aggregate or clump, become embedded in the wall of the abdomen and then grow at quite a rapid pace”. And while chemotherapy will work initially, Professor Clements said this form of cancer “quite quickly becomes immune to treatment”.

Professor Clements and her team, located at Brisbane’s Translational Research Institute (TRI), have now developed 3D models of the cancer using cancer cells to mimic and better understand how the cancer behaves while in the abdominal cavity; specifically, said Professor Clements, “how cancer cells aggregate and survive in the ascites fluid that accumulates in the abdomen and why it is resistant to chemotherapy”. They are one of only a few groups of scientists in the world working with 3D modelling for ovarian cancer.

“Our 3D modelling in test tubes replicates the cancer cells’ behaviour,” said Professor Clements. “Under microscopic conditions we can see how it works and our understanding of the cancer has greatly improved.”

The researchers have also identified two enzymes which, when present in a tumour, make the cancer resistant to chemotherapy. Professor Clements noted, “Once we know how and why ovarian cancer is resistant to chemotherapy, we can then work on possible solutions.”

One possible solution has been developed by Associate Professor Jonathan Harris, at QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), who has developed a drug which has been found to inhibit the identified enzymes in laboratory testing.

“This is potentially a major milestone in the road to the development of better treatment for this disease,” said Professor Clements. “We will continue to work with Professor Harris to develop a clinically effective version of this drug and test the drug in our lab before moving to animal and ultimately human trials.”

Improving treatment will be particularly significant for those patients whose cancer is diagnosed after the disease has spread. As noted by Cancer Council Queensland spokesperson Katie Clift, “If ovarian cancer is treated when confined to the ovaries, 93% of patients will be alive in five years … If the cancer spreads to surrounding tissue or organs, only 39% of patients will be alive after five years.”