Funding outcome

Each year about 3,900 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 1,900 women die of this disease in Canada. Most ovarian cancers are diagnosed at late stages when the disease has spread to the abdominal cavity, and current treatment regimens are ineffective against advanced ovarian cancers. To develop novel and more effective treatments, we need to better understand the molecular basis of ovarian cancer and identify the proteins that are critical for the formation and/or progression of ovarian cancer. These proteins are potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer treatment. In this proposal, we will determine the role of a protein that is crucial for a type of RNA modification in ovarian cancer. Our initial analysis and preliminary experiments show that high expression of this protein is associated with poor survival of ovarian cancer patients and when expression of this protein is decreased, ovarian cancer cells become less aggressive, suggesting a role for this protein in promoting the formation and/or progression of ovarian cancer. This protein is critical for controlling gene expression in the cell. In this proposal, we will determine at the molecular level how this protein controls the behavior of ovarian cancer cells and if targeting this protein can be a potential treatment option for ovarian cancer. Findings from this study could lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic targets to treat ovarian cancer, which has great potential to improve the clinical outcomes of ovarian cancer patients.