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Giving women more time with longer-lasting treatments

Dr Anke Nijhuis

Why is it important for us to fund this research?

Ovarian cancer is incurable once it has spread around the body, so it’s vital to give these women as much time as possible to spend with their loved ones.

Sadly, at this stage, each drug can eventually fail and women face an emotional rollercoaster through cycles of remission and relapse until no treatments are left.

Once the cancer has spread around the body, ovarian cancer is incurable. At this stage, each drug eventually fails.

Dr Anke Nijhuis, a rising star at our Research Centre, has found a way that ovarian cancer cells become resistant to targeted therapies. By combining two existing drugs to counter this resistance, she can weaken lab-grown cancer cells, and now we’re funding her to test this in real-world tumour samples.

By the end of the project, Anke hopes to give the treatments to women with ovarian cancer in clinical trials.

What does this mean for women with ovarian cancer?

The combined approach could also make targeted drugs effective for more women.

This could be a lifeline for women with some of the most difficult cancers to treat, sparing them the crushing disappointment of hearing that their cancer has returned after only a few months.

Imagine having just one wish: more time with those you love. For women battling ovarian cancer, this is the one wish that burns brighter than any other. Read about the research projects we're funding to help make that wish come true.

Your donation can fuel this groundbreaking research that aims to grant women more time with their loved ones. Donate today.