Research summary
Ovarian cancer is considered the most serious cancer for women. It has been called a “silent killer” because some women notice symptoms only after the disease has reached an advanced stage. As Canada Research Chair in Molecular and Genomic Pathology, Dr. David Huntsman is studying ovarian cancer in hopes of coming up with better ways to prevent and treat it.
He and his research team are exploring a hypothesis that the highly specific cancer types found in the ovary arise from interactions between cells of origin, mutations and their microenvironment—and that only by understanding these interactions will it be possible to come up with the best prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies. Huntsman and his team are working on four related research projects that are poised to contribute to the understanding of ovarian cancers.