Three leading researchers attack ovarian cancer from all angles

You will often hear it said that someone is battling or fighting cancer – the imagery is hard to escape. When it comes to Hudson Institute’s work on ovarian cancer, it is a war being fought on several fronts and our troops are making great inroads.

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with only 48 per cent of patients surviving beyond five years. It affects about 1,500 Australian women annually.

There are many types of ovarian cancer, all of which behave differently and respond in varying ways to treatments.

Most patients are diagnosed when the cancer is already advanced, often after it has spread to other parts of the body. While first-line treatments can have good results, the cancer usually returns in a state that makes it resistant to chemotherapy.

These two factors – spread (metastasis) and chemoresistance, are at the heart of Dr Maree Bilandzic’s work. “We found that so-called leader cells promote tumour progression by suppressing anti-tumour immunity,” Dr Bilandzic said.

“By targeting these cells, we aim to develop new therapies to reduce metastasis, enhance immune responses, and improve outcomes for ovarian cancer patients.” Dr Maree Bilandzic

“We have developed a novel antibody targeting leader cells and are now advancing towards first in-human clinical trials to bring new hope to women with ovarian cancer.” Dr Maree Bilandzic

New ovarian cancer treatments are long overdue

Treatment for ovarian cancer has barely changed in 30 years. Dr Bilandzic has met women going through the cancer battle who are receiving the same treatment their mothers or grandmothers did.

“My research, is the first to demonstrate that targeting leader cells can significantly reduce metastasis and reshape the immune microenvironment, improving the anti-tumour immune response and helping the body fight off the disease.” Dr Bilandzic said.

Dr Nicole Campbell is also working on ways to help the immune system recognise and guard against ovarian cancer, but her approach is different. Her research focusses on a new immunotherapy that targets high-grade serous ovarian cancer by focusing on a naturally-produced protein known as interferon epsilon, which can help activate the immune system to protect against the cancer and prevent its spread.

Immune-based therapies have been very successful in treating other cancers, but less so against ovarian cancer.

“Our data shows that interferon epsilon primarily works through activation of the immune system, and it’s most effective against metastatic tumour cells, so it could play a major role in tackling the spread of cancer cells from the ovaries to other parts of the body.” Dr Nicole Campbell

Rare cancer targeted by new technology treatments

Associate Professor Simon Chu studies a rare sub-group of ovarian cancer cells called granulosa cell tumours (GCT) and because of their rarity (about 5 to 8 per cent of malignant ovarian cancers), research in this area has historically been underfunded, leaving patients with limited options beyond surgery.

He has found that nearly all women with GCT carry a mutation in the FOXL2 gene, which interacts with a key family of proteins to drive tumour growth. He aims to block this interaction.

By screening more than 300,000 drug compounds, his team aims to find one that could stop tumour progression—and potentially lead to a targeted treatment for all patients with the FOXL2 mutation.

The war against ovarian cancer is far from won, but Hudson Institute is leading the fight for new and better treatments.

“Using cutting-edge techniques like cryo-electron microscopy to map out the molecular structure of how GCT develops, we aim to better understand it, so then we can develop drugs that specifically target this type of cancer.” A/Prof Simon Chu