Lessons From a Lawyer Living with Ovarian Cancer 

Jennifer Thorn has worked hard her whole life running a family law practice and raising her family, but in April 2021, just as she began to enjoy her success, she faced a new challenge.  After experiencing pain while lying on her side, Thorn, 48, of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, visited her primary care physician who ordered bloodwork … Read more

Living with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer, Celebrity Chef Writes a New Recipe 

As a cast member on the television series “America’s Test Kitchen,” and host of its companion podcast “The Walk-In,” Elle Simone Scott delights in sharing her expertise and recipes. The Boston-based celebrity chef and food stylist is also a role model, as founder and president of SheChef, Inc., a professional networking organization for fellow women … Read more

Researchers Set Sights on New Ovarian Cancer Treatment Strategies

Despite breakthrough treatments for high-grade serous ovarian cancer, about 80 percent of patients relapse within two years, often resistant to treatment. The good news is that Dana-Farber scientists are pursuing multiple avenues of research that very well may improve outcomes. “A number of patients develop progressive disease at a later point, potentially indicating that a … Read more

Patient-Derived Ovarian Cancer ‘Organoids’ Aid Precision Oncology Research

The time may not be far off when the treatment for a person’s ovarian cancer can be tailored to their malignancy using drugs selected by testing on “organoids” — miniature 3-D clusters of cancer cells grown from a patient’s own tumor cells. Although ovarian organoid tests are not yet being used to guide treatment decisions, … Read more

Study Uncovers Potent Immunotherapy Approach to Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Immune therapies declare open season on cancer, rousing immune system cells to take up an attack on tumors. But which immune cells join the hunt, which sit it out, and what happens within immune cells that causes them to go on the offensive? Such questions are especially relevant when immunotherapies show only limited effectiveness against … Read more

Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trial Helps Grandmother Feel Stable During a Difficult Year

Carol Brown, 80, has been through quite a turbulent 2020. Her much-beloved pastimes, including playing violin in a senior orchestra, book groups, and weekly church services, are now virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boston-area resident had to cancel a March trip to visit family out west, and she spent the summer packing up … Read more

Basic Science Discovery Leads to Clinical Trial for Patients with Chemotherapy-Resistant Form of Ovarian Cancer

Dana-Farber scientists recently uncovered a potential vulnerability in a form of ovarian cancer notoriously resistant to chemotherapy. Now they’ve opened a clinical trial involving a drug that targets that susceptibility in patients with the disease. The impetus for their research is a type of ovarian cancer with excess copies of the cyclinE1 gene (abbreviated CCNE1). … Read more

Scientists Identify Genes Tied to Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer

Medically reviewed by Alexander Gusev, PhD A team of Dana-Farber scientists and their associates has identified 34 genes associated with an increased risk of developing earliest-stage ovarian cancer. The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, will both help identify women who have the highest risk of developing ovarian cancer and pave the way for identifying … Read more

Facing Ovarian Cancer, a Doctor Becomes the Patient

By Luisa Stigol, MD, FAAP I was a 74-year-old pediatrician in practice with a multi-specialty group associated with Boston Children’s Hospital. Forty years after becoming a doctor, I still loved learning new things and sharing them with my patients. Then I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer — and suddenly, a big wall separated me from … Read more

PARP Inhibitor Drugs May Now be Standard Part of Follow-up Therapy for Some Ovarian Cancer Patients

On the strength of the results of a major international clinical trial, there is now a new standard of care for patients with an advanced form of ovarian cancer who have responded to initial chemotherapy. The trial, dubbed SOLO-1, found that these patients – newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer that carries a mutation in the … Read more

It’s “Unprecedented”: After Two Recurrences, Ovarian Cancer Patient is “Living a Normal Life Again”

When Fran Austin’s ovarian cancer recurred after two rounds of chemotherapy, she found herself looking for a silver lining to the dark cloud of her disease. And she found it: Genetic profiling of her tumor identified her as an ideal candidate for an immunotherapy clinical trial, which has since shrunk her tumor by 60 percent … Read more