In the UK, more than 6,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and two in three of these women will die within five years. A main challenge in treating the disease is that cancer cells can become resistant to chemotherapy, making the treatment ineffective and allowing the tumour to return. 70% of women will experience this problem but chemotherapy following surgery is currently the best treatment option, so finding ways to reverse and prevent resistance is crucial to saving lives.

The Ovarian Cancer Action Platinum Research Group is investigating why seven in ten women develop resistance to chemotherapy by studying the molecular differences between ovarian cancer cell samples donated by ovarian cancer patients both before and after their tumours became resistant. This approach will allow our scientists to develop novel treatments which target the proteins and mechanisms involved in resistance to reverse and prevent this problem.