A low-grade serous ovarian cancer research project that received funding from the LGSOC Initiative and STAAR Ovarian Cancer Foundation has been published in the British Journal of Cancer.
The LGSOC Initiative partnered with STAAR to contribute $70,000 USD to research by Dr. KK Wong of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The research investigated estrogen signalling in low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) to better understand how the cancer cells use estrogen.
“This is a unique opportunity to study the complex and elusive estrogen receptor signalling pathway in low-grade serous ovarian cancer, which would hopefully result in a successful and improved anti-hormone therapy,” Wong said.
Findings
The paper, The Prognostic Value of MEK-pathway associated estrogen receptor signaling activity for female cancers, looked at the estrogen receptor (ER) signalling pathway activities of breast, ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers to identify which may predict endocrine therapy responsiveness.
Because endocrine therapy has been shown to be effective against breast cancer cells, but not reliably against gynecologic cancers, Wong’s research sought to understand the role of ER signalling activity in the development of gynecologic cancers by looking at the difference of the pathway activation between normal and tumour tissues.
The research found that ER signalling is prognostic for gynecological cancers and that MEK pathway activity is associated with ER signalling in patients with gynecologic cancers. Targeting both the estrogen receptor and MEK pathways (a chain of proteins associated with cell growth) may aid the development of endocrine therapy strategies.
Implications for low-grade serous ovarian cancer
“We found that our approach can better predict the response of patients to endocrine therapy, including [those with] LGSOC,” Wong said. “In addition, we identified a few genes which are associated with endocrine therapy resistance.”
Previous research has shown that hormonal maintenance therapy, such as aromatase inhibitors Letrozole, Anastrozole, and Exemestane, can result in a lower risk of progression in patients with stage II-IV low-grade serous carcinoma.
The paper also discusses some previous studies into endocrine therapy for ovarian cancer.
“Letrozole has been suggested to be valuable as a maintenance treatment of high-grade serous ovarian cancer, especially in patients with chemoresistance or residual disease. Another retrospective study indicates that endocrine therapy could be a practical strategy to postpone subsequent chemotherapy for relapsed high-grade serous ovarian cancer. From a phase II study of anastrozole in patients with estrogen receptor-positive recurrent/metastatic low-grade ovarian cancers and serous borderline ovarian tumours, partial responses were only observed in 14% of patients.”
“It is important to identify patients who will benefit the most from endocrine therapy and avoid unnecessary treatment for patients who will not respond,” Wong said.
Wong is also researching patient resistance to the MEK inhibitor trametinib in another STAAR-funded study.
Prior to August 2024, the Low Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Initiative was known as Cure Our Ovarian Cancer.
