We use non-essential cookies (including anonymous analytics) to help us understand if our website is working well and to learn what content is most useful to visitors. We also use some cookies which are essential for our platform to work and help us to provide you with the best experience possible. You can accept or reject our non-essential cookies and change your mind at any time. To learn more, please read our cookies policy.

Update cookie preferences

Dr James Flanagan

James Flanagan.jpg

About

Dr James Flanagan is a researcher at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre. Here he tells us about his work on ovarian cancer risk and prevention.

Why is ovarian cancer research so important?

Most ovarian cancers are diagnosed late and, as a result, many women still die from this disease. Current screening methods are often not sensitive enough to detect the disease in its early stages. Therefore, our best chance to stop women dying from ovarian cancer, and something that I believe very strongly, is by preventing it from developing in the first place.

We propose that by identifying the women at highest risk of developing ovarian cancer they may make the right informed decisions regarding different preventive measures.

What are you researching? What have you discovered?

My research aims to understand how lifestyle factors can cause the biological changes that can lead to increased risk of ovarian cancer. Epigenetics is an area of biology that describes the modifiable changes in gene regulation that does not involve changes in the DNA sequence.

Epigenetic patterns in normal cell functioning explains why different cells in the body, that have the same DNA, can become different cell types such as those in the liver, brain, or ovaries. In cancer cells the epigenetic patterns are very different to normal cells.

We have discovered that many known cancer risk factors can change epigenetic patterns. My Ovarian Cancer Action research project will test whether any of these epigenetic risk factors can improve our ability to determine who will get ovarian cancer and who will not. 

What I find really exciting scientifically about this project is that for the first time we have the technology to have an unprecedented view of the epigenetic patterns in the whole of the genome – 16 million different parts of the genome – rather than the 2% that we could look at with previous technologies.

What excites you about the future?

For patients, and women in the general population, we are getting closer to having an appropriate test to establish an individual’s risk of developing ovarian cancer.

All year round our scientists at the Ovarian Cancer Research Centre, The University of Oxford and beyond are working to find the next breakthrough in ovarian cancer research. Your donation will support the work they do each and every day. Donate now.