Ovarian Cancer Research — Giving Women More Time
Ovarian cancer is often called the silent killer. It develops with few symptoms, spreads fast, and is usually diagnosed far too late. Nearly 90% of women are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and survival rates for aggressive tumours can be as low as 10–15%. Tragically, close to 1,000 Australian women die from this disease each year.
At FECRI, we’re working to change this by focusing on three key areas:
- Earlier and more accurate diagnostics
- Understanding why treatments fail — and improving them
- Finding or repurposing therapies that extend life
We’re also exploring the use of nanotechnology to make chemotherapy more targeted and tolerable.
In the last year, with your support, we’ve:
- Published research on BT#9 — a mitochondrial inhibitor showing strong potential to slow ovarian cancer (in collaboration with national and international partners)
- Advanced our work on ADAMTS1, a biomarker that may help predict treatment resistance
- Progressed a new chemotherapy approach using lipid nanoparticles to improve the performance of existing drugs
- Used Digital Spatial Profiling to analyse tumours from patients who don’t respond to platinum-based chemotherapy — providing deeper insight into resistance mechanisms
Latest research from our Ovarian cancer group.
Group Leaders
- Professor George Kannourakis
- Professor Nuzhat Ahmed
Scientists
- Dr Rodney Luwor
- Dr Ruth Escalona
- Dr Jason Kelly
