![\"Why](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/chemo-resistance.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe world\u2019s largest complete DNA analysis of ovarian cancer, published overnight in Nature, has revealed unprecedented new insight into the genetic twists and turns a deadly form of the disease takes to outsmart chemotherapy, potentially changing treatment approaches for women around the world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Led by Professor David Bowtell from Melbourne\u2019s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and in collaboration with researchers at Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, The University of Queensland\u2019s Institute for Molecular Biosciences (IMB), Brisbane, and international colleagues, the study involved completely sequencing the genomes of 114 samples of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HSC) from 92 patients \u2014 collected either at diagnosis, following successful and unsuccessful treatment, or immediately after death \u2014 to intricately investigate how the cancer evolves to evade initially effective chemotherapy.<\/p>\n
Professor Bowtell says the study revealed at least four key mechanisms by which initially vulnerable ovarian cancers go through genetic changes and become resistant to common chemotherapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn two of the mechanisms, cancer cells find a way of restoring their ability to repair damaged DNA and thereby resist the effects of chemotherapy; in another, cancer cells \u201chijack\u201d a genetic switch that enables them to pump chemotherapy drugs out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
\u201cA further mechanism sees the molecular structure of the cancer tissue shift and reshape, such that sheets of \u201cscar tissue\u201d appear to block chemotherapy from reaching its target,\u201d said Professor Bowtell.<\/p>\n
HSC accounts for 70 per cent of all ovarian cancers, and 60 per cent of ovarian cancer-related deaths, claiming approximately 80,000 women globally each year.<\/p>\n
Professor Bowtell says until now there has been little information to guide clinicians when selecting treatment for women whose cancer has returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades clinicians around the world have watched HSCs shrink under attack from chemotherapy, before returning aggressively months or years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy completely sequencing the cancers, sampled at different stages of disease, for the first time we can map their evolution under the selective pressure of chemotherapy and begin work on better interventions,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Professor Anna DeFazio, Head of the Gynaecological Oncology Research Group at the Westmead Millennium Institute and co-senior author on the paper, says the study could be practice-changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of our findings suggest a refined approach to drug selection in recurrent ovarian cancer, which could include bypassing drugs that are unlikely to be effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis particular view of such a complex disease has never been seen before, and we believe it will lead to more women receiving treatment better suited to their particular cancer, all over the world,\u2019 said Professor deFazio.<\/p>\n
Fellow co-senior author Professor Sean Grimmond from IMB says finding sub-types of disease, but also sub-types of resistant disease, carries huge implications for designing future treatments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to continue to write the atlas for this complex disease and get more sophisticated about the amount of drug we give, when we give it, and the types and combinations of treatments in relation to each woman\u2019s cancer,\u201d said Professor Grimmond.<\/p>\n
Dr Ann-Marie Patch, from QIMR Berghofer Medical Genomics Group and formerly from IMB, says cutting-edge technology was crucial to this turning-point in the global fight against ovarian cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy using the latest sequencing techniques we have been able to find scars from breaks in the DNA that have helped us better define the genes involved in allowing tumours to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research team is incredibly appreciative of the many women who allowed their samples to be collected so that we can find out what happens to the cancer cells after treatment and will allow us to work towards better treatments for women in the future,\u201d said Dr Patch.<\/p>\n
The study involved women from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Westmead Hospital in Australia, Hammersmith Hospital at the Imperial College of London, United Kingdom, and The University of Chicago, United States, and was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Worldwide Cancer Research (UK), Cancer Australia, Ovarian Cancer Action (UK) and Ovarian Cancer Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The world\u2019s largest complete DNA analysis of ovarian cancer, published overnight in Nature, has revealed unprecedented new insight into the genetic twists and turns a deadly form of the disease takes to outsmart chemotherapy, potentially changing treatment approaches for women around the world. Led by Professor David Bowtell from Melbourne\u2019s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2510,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2509","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}