“This research is a crucial area of study to help understand why some patients don’t respond to treatment, and we hope it will inform the development of new, therapeutic alternatives to chemotherapy,” said Dr. Johanne Weberpals. Researchers have made great strides in developing targeted therapies for many cancers, but the treatment options for ovarian cancer remain limited. Motivated by a desire to help these patients, Dr. Johanne Weberpals and her colleagues conducted a detailed study of the tumor molecular characteristics associated with poor chemotherapy response. 

As described in Cancer Medicine, they found platinum-resistant ovarian tumors demonstrated genomic features in key cellular stress response genes in addition to a decrease in tumor immune cells. 

“This research is a crucial area of study to help understand why some patients don’t respond to treatment, and we hope it will inform the development of new, therapeutic alternatives to chemotherapy,” said Dr. Weberpals, a gynecological oncologist and clinician investigator at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

Authors: Weberpals JI, Pugh TJ, Marco-Casanova P, Goss GD, Andrews Wright N, Rath P, Torchia J, Fortuna A, Jones GN, Roudier MP, Bernard L, Lo B, Torti D, Leon A, Marsh K, Hodgson D, Duciaume M, Howat WJ, Lukashchuk N, Lazic SE, Whelan D, Sekhon HS.

Funding: AstraZeneca Canada Inc., Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, Canada Research Chairs Program. All research at The Ottawa Hospital is also enabled by donors to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa.

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