THE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND INC

OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH ALLIANCE WAS FOUNDED IN 1994 (AS THE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH FUND, INC.) AND IS A FULL-SPECTRUM ORGANIZATION FUNDING MEDICAL RESEARCH, ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF PATIENTS AND PROVIDING SUPPORT AND RESOURCES TO PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES. OVARIAN CANCER IS THE DEADLIEST OF ALL GYNECOLOGIC CANCERS AND RANKS FIFTH AS THE CAUSE OF CANCER DEATH IN WOMEN. EACH YEAR THERE WILL BE OVER 19,000 NEW CASES OF OVARIAN CANCER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND APPROXIMATELY 14,000 WOMEN WILL DIE OF THE DISEASE. THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OCRA'S PROGRAMS REFLECT OUR COMMITMENT TO THE OVARIAN AND GYNECOLOGIC CANCER COMMUNITIES. SINCE 1998, OCRA HAS AWARDED 418 GRANTS FOR OVARIAN AND RELATED CANCER RESEARCH TO PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS AT 98 LEADING MEDICAL CENTERS, WHICH IS AN INVESTMENT TOTALING OVER $122 MILLION. THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF OUR DONORS, OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE WORKING ON MANY FRONTS TO DEFEAT OVARIAN CANCER. BY DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES FOR EARLY DETECTION AND EXPLORING THE GENETICS THAT INCREASE RISK FOR OVARIAN CANCER, WE HOPE TO SAVE WOMEN'S LIVES BY FINDING THE CANCER EARLY OR STOPPING IT BEFORE IT EVEN STARTS. RESEARCHERS ARE GAINING INSIGHTS INTO THE MANY TYPES OF OVARIAN AND RELATED CANCERS TO DETERMINE THE ORIGINS, WHICH MAY LEAD TO MORE EFFECTIVE TESTING AND EFFECTIVE IMMUNOTHERAPY TREATMENT OPTIONS. FURTHERMORE, THEY ARE IDENTIFYING NEW AND BETTER TREATMENTS TO IMPROVE OVERALL SURVIVAL, PREVENT DRUG RESISTANCE, MINIMIZE SIDE EFFECTS, PREVENTING RECURRENCE AND METASTASIS, AND ENHANCE PATIENTS' QUALITY OF LIFE. FINALLY,OCRA LAUNCHED A NEW GRANT - HEALTH EQUITY RESEARCH GRANT AND AWARDED 3 IN ITS FIRST YEAR. THESE GRANTS WILL FOCUS ON IMPROVING HEALTH EQUITY IN THE GYNECOLOGIC CANCER SPACE.ACCOMPLISHMENTS ACHIEVED AS A RESULT OF OCRA GRANTS INCLUDE: SHOWN THAT RUCAPARIB EXTENDS PROGRESSION FREE SURVIVAL IN OVARIAN CANCER; HELPED EXPLAIN RESISTANCE TO CHEMOTHERAPY; DISCOVERED THAT 18% OF OVARIAN CANCER CASES INVOLVE INHERITED MUTATIONS; EXPLORED THE ROLE OF ESTROGEN IN ANTI-TUMOR IMMUNITY; PINPOINTED TWO GENES THAT TRIGGER OVARIAN CANCER; IDENTIFIED A NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY FOR CLEAR CELL OVARIAN CANCER; SHOWN HOW A PARP/IMMUNE THERAPY COMBO SHOWS PROMISE; DEMONSTRATED HOW GENE THERAPY MAY HELP PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT DISEASE; CONFIRMED GENERIC HEART MEDICATION CAN PROLONG SURVIVAL IN OVARIAN CANCER PATIENTS; SHED LIGHT ON HOW OVARIAN CANCER GROWS; DISCOVERED THAT ANALYZING DATA FROM PAP SMEARS COULD HELP DETECT ENDOMETRIAL AND OVARIAN CANCER; ESTABLISHED THERE IS NO LINK BETWEEN OBESITY AND RISK FOR THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF OVARIAN CANCER; SHOWN THAT FGFR4 IS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER AND THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR OVARIAN CANCER; FOUND THAT A SUBSET OF IMMUNE CELLS PROMOTE TUMOR GROWTH; CLARIFIED WHICH CELL LINES ARE THE BEST FIT FOR USE IN OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH; DEFINED SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SOME ENDOMETRIAL, BREAST AND OVARIAN CANCERS; EXPLAINED HOW AN EXPERIMENTAL DRUG MAY BE HELPFUL IN FIGHTING PLATINUM-RESISTANT OVARIAN CANCER; IDENTIFIED AREAS OF THE HUMAN GENOME THAT ARE LINKED TO INCREASED RISK FOR OVARIAN CANCER; EVALUATED NEW EXPERIMENTAL MODELS TO ADVANCE OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH; REVEALED HOW COMBINING TARGETED AGENTS IS EFFECTIVE; IDENTIFIED BIOMARKERS THAT CAN BE USED TO MONITOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLATINUM RESISTANCE THERAPIES; STUDIED MACROPHAGES TO IMPROVE TREATMENT; IDENTIFIED NOVEL BIOMARKERS OF HGSOC AND SPECIFIC DRUG TARGETS; TARGETED MDM2 DEGRADATION AS A NOVEL TREATMENT FOR OVARIAN CANCER; USED MACHINE LEARNING TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN DISPARATE DATA SETS SPECIFICALLY IN PATIENTS WITH HGSOC; DOSED THE FIRST PATIENTS IN THE CLINICAL TRIAL "IMMUNOTHERAPY PLATFORM STUDY IN PLATINUM RESISTANT HIGH GRADE SEROUS OVARIAN CANCER (IPROC)" (NCT04918186); FOUND KEY PROTEINS IN HGSOC CANCER CELLS WHICH RESULTED IN COMBINED TREATMENT OPTIONS WHICH RESULTED IN SMALLER TUMORS AND LONGER SURVIVAL; AND SHOWED HOW SURGICAL REMOVAL OF FALLOPIAN TUBES MAY REDUCE OVARIAN CANCER RISK.IN 2023 ALONE, OCRA RESEARCHERS: IDENTIFIED A MOLECULE THAT COULD BE A KEY TO IMPROVING IMMUNE RESPONSE AGAINST OVARIAN CANCER; IDENTIFIED RNA-BINDING PROTEIN GENES AS ANOTHER POTENTIAL SOURCE OF HEREDITARY CANCERS, IN ADDITION TO MORE WELL-KNOWN GENES LIKE BRCA 1/2; SET OUT TO UNDERSTAND HOW CANCER SPREADS AND HOW CANCER CELLS RELY ON/DEPLOY ENERGY SOURCES LIKE SUGAR AND FAT TO SURVIVE TO FIND BETTER TREATMENTS; HIGHLIGHTED THE NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT OF COMPLEX VARIANTS TO CORRECTLY IDENTIFY INDIVIDUALS AT RISK; SOUGHT TO UNDERSTAND WHY CERTAIN OVARIAN CANCER CELLS RESIST OLAPARIB TREATMENT, AND DISCOVERED THAT INTRODUCING A SECOND DRUG (MIFEPRISTONE) WHILE TARGETING CERTAIN CELLS (POLYPLOID GIANT CANCER CELLS) MAY OFFER A SOLUTION; DISCOVERED A NEW APPROACH TO IMMUNOTHERAPY THAT OVERCOMES SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF TREATING OVARIAN CANCER; IDENTIFIED A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN CHEMORESISTANT PATHWAY IN HGSC WHICH LED TO WORKING ON A NEW THERAPY TO OVERCOME THIS; PROVIDED AN OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES THAT OBSTRUCT PLATELETS' PROTUMOR EFFECTS BY REPROGRAMMING THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT; FOUND THAT MESOTHELIAL CELLS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE INITIAL STAGES OF OVARIAN CANCER GROWTH IN THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY; PROVIDED A NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY TO OVERCOME TME-MEDIATED RESISTANCE TO PARPI ; SHED NEW LIGHT ON HOW THE MOST COMMON SUBTYPE OF OVARIAN CANCER DEVELOPS AND METASTASIZES, BY IDENTIFYING A KEY MOLECULE THAT ALLOWS MALIGNANCIES IN THE FALLOPIAN TUBE TO MIGRATE TO THE OVARIES AND CONTINUE TO GROW; AND UNCOVERED SEVERAL MECHANISMS OF IMMUNE ESCAPE THAT CAN HELP EXPLAIN WHY OVARIAN CANCERS HAVE BEEN RESISTANT TO IMMUNOTHERAPY TO DATE. EVERY DOLLAR DONATED BRINGS US CLOSER TO A CURE FOR THIS DEVASTATING DISEASE. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO JOIN US IN OUR FIGHT, PLEASE VISIT OCRA'S WEBSITE AT WWW.OCRAHOPE.ORG.

EACH YEAR, OCRA BRINGS TOGETHER OVARIAN CANCER PATIENTS, SURVIVORS AND CAREGIVERS AT THE OVARIAN CANCER NATIONAL CONFERENCE, A THREE DAY-LONG EVENT FILLED WITH INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS FEATURING EXPERT SPEAKERS, FUN AND COMMUNITY. MORE THAN 605 PEOPLE FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD COME TOGETHER VIRTUALLY FOR THIS EVENT. THE SPIRIT OF UNITY AND HOPE IS ALWAYS STRONG AND ATTENDEES CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, AND SURVIVORSHIP. SESSIONS FEATURE TOP OVARIAN CANCER EXPERTS WHO GENEROUSLY GIVE OF THEIR TIME, PRESENTING THE LATEST IN TREATMENTS, RESEARCH, MANAGING RECURRENCE, GENETICS, NUTRITION, CARETAKER AND SUPPORTER CARE, SUPPORT FOR YOUNG WOMEN, ADVOCACY, AND SO MUCH MORE.