Project 462795

Cancers related to the reproductive organs, such as breast, uterus, and ovarian cancers, continue to be the leading forms of cancer in terms of incidence in Canadian women. Of these, ovarian cancer lacks efficient screening testing as there are currently no solid markers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, this limitation often results in undesired and hard-to-treat metastatic dissemination and poor prognosis. Our goal is to investigate the molecular events involved in ovarian cancer to better understand this disease and help developing reliable indicators and suitable therapeutic avenues for early detection and treatment. This study will investigate how estrogen contributes to cancer development and progression, based on the premise that estrogen replacement therapy is a well-recognized risk factor for developing ovarian cancer. We will thus investigate the role of a novel factor that we recently identified based on its sensitivity to estrogen in ovarian cancer cells. Elucidating its role in ovarian tumorigenesis will provide novel and essential insights into our understanding of the impact of estrogen to elicit ovarian cancer growth and spread. This study will help us identify new and more effective ways for the early detection and treatment of women who have late-stage ovarian cancer.