2026-2027 Team Science Grantees: David R. Walt, Ph.D. & Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD
About Project
Leveraging Insights from Fallopian Tube Pre-Cancers to Develop Ultrasensitive Biomarkers for Detection of Ovarian Cancer
PROJECT SUMMARY
Ovarian cancer is often deadly because it is usually diagnosed at a late stage, after it has already spread. The most common and aggressive form, called high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), actually begins in the fallopian tubes, not the ovaries. Although we now understand this, current screening methods like blood tests (e.g., CA-125) and ultrasounds are not reliable enough to catch the disease early, when treatment would be most effective.
This project aims to discover new protein markers that are linked to the earliest changes in cells that lead to HGSOC and to develop highly sensitive tests that could eventually detect these markers in blood. We will study a set of candidate proteins found in early tissue changes and evaluate how consistently they appear across the full course of the disease, and we will also build and test new detection tools using advanced technology capable of identifying tiny amounts of these proteins.
The long-term goal is to create a reliable, non-invasive screening test for early ovarian cancer that could be used in high-risk women, and eventually in the general population, to help catch the disease sooner and improve outcomes.
