Ovarian cancer represent approximately 25% of gynecologic malignancies but accounts for over 50% of gynecologic cancer deaths. Eighty-five to ninety percent of ovarian cancers are to the epithelial cell type. The overall theme of this Program Project (renewal of CA 52477) is to improve the understanding of the biology of epithelial ovarian cancer, improve the therapy of the disease, and improve the quality of life of the patients. This theme will be achieved through completion of four Projects with the support of four cores in a Program Project that has been designed to maximize existing collaborations and to develop new collaborations. The effective multidisciplinary collaboration on a single theme will allow shared resources and will stimulate the development and integration of ideas from different areas of expertise in such a way that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts.
The specific aim of this Program Project in epithelial ovarian cancer is the confirmation of the following hypotheses: 1) Intensification of therapy (surgical and chemotherapeutic) can improve survival in ovarian cancer. 2) Improvement in salvage therapy can be achieved and this will lead to improved initial therapy. 3) Pain is a significant factor in determining quality of life in ovarian cancer patients and better understanding of pain syndromes will allow logical and effective interventions to relieve pain and improve quality of life. 4) Recognition of pain syndromes may allow earlier detection of initial and recurrent disease. 5) Radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies can, using body scans as well as novel hand-held devices, detect small residual ovarian cancer. 6) When tumors can be localized by radiolabeled antibodies, therapeutic isotopes can be used with these antibodies to treat minimal residual ovarian cancer. 7) Analysis of antigenic and molecular markers for epithelial ovarian cancer can improve our understanding of the development of ovarian cancer. 8) Further analyses of monoclonal antibodies will allow for the development of better antibodies or modification of existing antibodies to diagnose and treat ovarian cancer. The superb resources and active support of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center provide an ideal setting for this Program Project. The combined expertise of the investigators involved provides ample experience and knowledge to carry out this Project successfully.
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