Ongoing projects
OvaCure’s projects are named consecutively in the order in which we receive them. Project 1 is thus the first project that OvaCure has started, Project 2 is the next, and so on. The projects have different time horizons and are therefore completed at different times.
Below are OvaCure’s ongoing projects.
OvaCure project 12: Giants
Head of Research: Jinsong Liu (US)
Polyploid Giant Cancer Cells (PGCC) are found in high grade ovarian cancer and are enriched following chemotherapy. This project aims to target these PGCC’s in order to overcome acquired resistance and improve therapeutic response in women with ovarian cancer.
Status: Under development
Original title: “GIANTS – Targeting Giants in Ovarian Cancer”
OvaCure project 11: OvaCatch
Head of Research: Ranjit Manchanda (UK) and Steve Skates (US)
This project aims to reduce the time it takes to diagnose and initiate treatment of ovarian cancer in Danish women to ensure detection at an early stage. Additionally, the project aims to provide an improved screening strategy for women with an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
Status: Under development
Original title: ”OVACATCH – Ovarian Cancer Targeted Early Detection for Faster Diagnosis at a Curable Stage”
OvaCure project 9: Diagnostics of OvarieCysts – DOC-study
Head of Research: Estrid Høgdall (DK)
The overall purpose of the project is to find a better method to distinguish between benign cysts and the early stages of ovarian cancer.
Today, gynecologists risk assess a detected ovarian cyst based on the Risk of Malignancy Index (RMI) score. Unfortunately, RMI is not optimal for identifying which women should be referred to a cancer package for diagnosis, which results in some being diagnosed very late.
The DOC study wants to change the risk calculation model. About 2,000 women with ovarian cysts will be included in the project, which will consider health data, blood tests, symptoms, and ultrasound. Hopefully, early detection can improve the chances of survival for women with ovarian cancer.
Status: Ongoing
Original title: Diagnosing Ovarian Cysts – the DOC study
OvaCure Project 7: Winner of OvaCure Award 2020: DiscOVARY (DK&US)
Head of Research: Daniel Powell (USA), co-lead Professor Inge Marie Svane (DK)
Institution: Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, CHUV (Swiss),The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Oslo University Hospital (OUH), Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, UPENN
The overall purpose of the project is to increase the effectiveness of immunotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer.
Status: Ongoing – funding is being sought to continue the project
Original title: “Leveraging shared Ovarian Cancer antigenic landscape discOVARY for next generation OvaCure ACT/vaccination trials”
OvaCure project 6: CAR T-cell Project (US)
Head of Research: Daniel Powell (USA)
Institution: UPenn
The perfect key: Can CAR-T cells be modified to work better in treating women with ovarian cancer recurrence?
CAR-T treatment is specific immunotherapy: T cells that are genetically engineered to attack cancer cells.
Status: Ongoing
Original title: “CAR-T cell therapy in ovarian cancer patients”