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USA. The Moodie Report Foundation’s US$250,000 donation last year to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has helped to advance two major research projects looking at the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. The Moodie Report Foundation (based in Switzerland and since replaced due to the company’s new ownership by The Moodie Report’s new Corporate Social Responsibility Programme) was funded by large donations from Moodie International Switzerland shareholders and from members of the travel retail community.
Below is a summary of the progress report published by Cedars-Sinai on the two research projects, led by Dr. Beth Karlan, Director of the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Program:
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Dr. Karlan’s studies show significant promise for advancing the way ovarian cancer patients are treated |
1) Targeting Ovarian Cancer’s Microenvironment
Cedars-Sinai has focused on developing a molecular understanding of the tumour micro-environment and the identification of molecular events whose disruption may undermine tumour progression. Ultimately, Dr. Karlan’s goal is to identify therapeutic targets that will improve overall survival in high grade serious ovarian carcinomas (HGSOC).
Following several research studies, the results indicate that stromal gene sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1) may be a viable therapeutic target in HGSOC and a promising approach to overcoming chemoresistance in HGSOC.
2) Modelling the Origins of Ovarian Cancer
Recent studies have demonstrated that the majority of the most lethal ovarian cancers actually originate from the fimbriated end of the fallopian tube.
Dr. Karlan and her team have made significant progress in establishing a three-dimensional human fallopian tube epithelium (FTE) laboratory model using the directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from women with and without inherited BRCA1 mutations.
Research has shown that even if unable to obtain completely differentiated fallopian tube epithelial cells, identification of a precursor cell would also contribute to current research and allow for dissection of molecular mechanisms driving cellular differentiation.
Dr. Karlan expects that new milestones will be achieved in the next six months.
For more information on Cedars-Sinai’s research projects or to make a donation, visit: http://giving.cedars-sinai.edu.
