NYSCF Women’s Reproductive Cancers Initiative

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About Women’s Reproductive Cancers

Women’s reproductive cancers (such as ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, uterine cancer, and cervical cancer) are massively underfunded given their deadly toll on society, and as a result remain very challenging to treat. Over 100,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with reproductive cancers each year, and over 32,000 women die annually from these cancers. The NYSCF Women’s Reproductive Cancers Initiative aims to shift paradigms in the way these cancers are studied and treated, in collaboration with leading cancer experts across the globe.

Our work begins with ovarian cancer, one of the deadliest types among women. Five years after diagnosis, ovarian cancer survival rates are just 47% – a number that has not changed in the past 25 years. This is partly due to the high frequency of patient relapses (over 75%) with cancers exhibiting drug resistance, making these cancers extremely difficult to treat effectively. Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed at very late stages because of the vague symptoms and lack of effective screening strategies.

Women’s Reproductive Cancers Research at NYSCF

A major limiting factor in understanding and treating ovarian cancer is the lack of experimental models that recapitulate the particularities of each patient’s cancer. Moreover, cancer samples taken from patients have a finite lifetime which restricts what researchers can learn about each patient’s disease. At NYSCF, we use samples of patient tumors resected during surgery to generate self-renewing stem cells and 3D structures grown from stem cells (called “organoids”) that recapitulate each patient’s individual tumor. Our world-leading expertise in stem cell technology positions us to create these innovative, more effective, personalized models of cancer.

Tumor-derived organoids provide an infinite lifespan during which we can study tumor cell behavior, test drugs, and identify optimal treatment courses for each patient. They also help identify markers for early detection and examine how individual genetic risk factors influence each patient’s experience of ovarian cancer. At NYSCF, in collaboration with leading clinicians and researchers, we are building a large living biobank of ovarian cancer organoid models as a resource to advance the field.

In addition to the major unmet medical need for more advanced and innovative research solutions for these cancers, increased awareness of these issues is crucial for improving diagnosis, survival rates, and treatment effectiveness. NYSCF regularly holds scientific and patient-focused events that educate the public about these issues and present the latest advancements in women’s cancer research.

Read more about our recent panel discussion featuring members of the Initiative’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Scientific Advisory Board

The Initiative is guided by a Scientific Advisory Board of world-leading experts. Current members include:

Name	Image
	Carol Aghajanian, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
	Michael Birrer, MD, PhD The University of Alabama at Birmingham
	George Coukos, MD, PhD University of Lausanne
	Susan M. Domchek, MD University of Pennsylvania
	Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD University of Pennsylvania
	Olivier Elemento, PhD Weill Cornell Medicine
	Ramez Eskander, MD University of California, San Diego
	Carla Grandori, MD, PhD SEngine Precision Medicine
	Carl June, MD University of Pennsylvania
	Ursula Matulonis, MD Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
	Kathleen Moore, MD University of Oklahoma
	Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil Columbia University
	Alessandro Santin, MD Yale University
	Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD University of Washington
	Irving Weissman, MD Stanford Medicine
	Oliver Zivanovic, MD, PhD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Special Advisor:

Name	Image
	Hans Clevers, MD, PhD  Hubrecht Institute

Women’s Reproductive Cancers News