There is new hope in the fight against ovarian cancer. And BC-based researchers at the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative (GCI) are leading the way.
Their goal? To reduce death and suffering from all gynecologic cancers by 50% by 2034 through groundbreaking research on prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship.
And they just got a major boost.
Harnessing AI to improve ovarian cancer outcomes
GCI researchers are part of an international team awarded $2 million to study how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve prediction of ovarian cancer survival, guide treatment selection, and ultimately lead to better patient outcomes.
Over the last decade, new treatments have been introduced for high-grade serous ovarian cancer — the most common form of ovarian cancer. However, five-year survival rates remain low, with 70 per cent of patients experiencing relapse.
With this grant, researchers will use state-of-the-art AI to help predict survival and guide treatment selection and clinical trial recommendations.
The award includes a $1 million AI Accelerator Grant from the Global Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium, founded by Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, United States; Ovarian Cancer Action, United Kingdom; and Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Australia; as well as another $1 million in compute power from Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab.
The researchers represent the Multidisciplinary Ovarian Cancer Outcomes Group (MOCOG), founded in 2012 with a goal to identify factors associated with long-term survival in high-grade serous ovarian cancer. The group includes investigators and patient advocates from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Researchers in British Columbia have been leading the way on ovarian cancer care — including disease prevention, diagnosis and personalized treatment — for more than a decade,” said Dr. Ali Bashashati, the lead Canadian research on the project and Director of AI Research at GCI (formerly known as OVCARE). “I am proud to be part of expanding our province and nation’s leadership in artificial intelligence and ovarian cancer care on a global stage.”
Dr. Bashashati will lead the project’s AI work with investigators from UBC, BC Cancer and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Other BC investigators include Dr. Gillian Hanley and Dr. Brad Nelson.
Gynecologic Cancer Initiative
A network of world-class doctors and researchers, the donor-supported Gynecologic Cancer Initiative leverages VGH as a distinct surgical site, where patients with the most complex cancers across BC receive urgent, live-saving care. In fact, VGH is the only place in BC to treat gynecological tumors.
Integrating cancer prevention into precision contraception
Led by GCI Members Drs. Wendy Norman, David Huntsman, and Gillian Hanley, the BEACON program (Biologic basis of contracEptive choice Associated ovarian Cancer risk: from populations through cells to actiON) has been awarded $2M from CIHR’s Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants to integrate cancer prevention into precision contraception.
The team will study how various types of birth control influence cell growth, DNA damage, and inflammation. At the same time, they will use large-scale population data to model how changing contraceptive trends may affect ovarian cancer rates in the future. By working with end knowledge users and national partners, BEACON aims to support the development of tools and information that can shape future contraception options that also reduce cancer risk.
BEACON brings together a diverse team of Canada’s unparalleled leaders in cancer biology, cancer prevention, reproductive epidemiology, contraceptive research, clinical care, and knowledge mobilization, forming a synergistic, impact-driven interdisciplinary team.
To date, progress in cancer prevention and contraceptive care has largely occurred in parallel. BEACON bridges these fields for the first time, leveraging complementary expertise across all four CIHR Pillars (PI-IV), driven by both emerging and established leaders working in close partnership with Knowledge Users.
Importantly, BEACON will establish an innovative, adaptable framework that can expand precision contraception approaches to prevent other cancers influenced by contraceptive choices, including endometrial, colorectal and breast cancers.
Join VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in the fight to be Greater Than Cancer.
Philanthropy will support fellows and clinician-scientists to conduct groundbreaking research that will bring the GCI closer to its goal of reducing death and suffering from all gynecologic cancers by 50% by 2034.
Through research into early detection and prevention, targeted treatments and improved survivorship care, GCI will impact women with endometriosis and cancers of the vulva and other pelvic conditions, here in BC and beyond.
Where breakthroughs begin
“Many life-saving therapies in use today across the world started at VGH. For example, I was part of the team that pioneered opportunistic salpingectomy as a surgical intervention to reduce the risk of ovarian cancers. I joined Greater Than Cancer because I believe in the bright surgeons and scientists at VGH whose innovations continue to change standards of care.”
– Dr. Dianne Miller, Co-Chair, Greater Than Cancer
VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation partners with donors to fuel groundbreaking research, world-class health care teams, and life-saving treatments benefitting everyone in BC. To donate, visit vghfoundation.ca/ways-to-give.
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