Could a simple blood test predict cancer treatment success?

For women with ovarian cancer, accessing the right treatment can be a complex and challenging process. When cancer comes back, doctors often face difficult decisions about which treatments are likely to be effective. This process of trial and error can lead to unnecessary and gruelling side effects, delays, and intense, emotional strain for patients.

But what if this guesswork could be eliminated?

That’s the potential of our latest pilot project, which aims to use a tiny biomarker to guide treatment decisions and improve survival rates.

What is a biomarker?

Biomarkers are like specialised messengers within the blood.

They carry valuable information about what’s happening inside the body. These measurable molecules — such as proteins, genes, or other biological substances — are released by cells and can signal changes or abnormalities.

We're looking at newly-discovered biomarker, which can be found in the blood of ovarian cancer patients and may reveal how their cancer responds to certain treatments, like chemotherapy.

Why does ovarian cancer come back?

Ovarian cancer has one of the highest recurrence rates among cancers. Around 70-90% of women diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer will have it return after their initial treatment. This happens because ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, when the disease has already spread and is harder to get rid of completely.

Additionally, cancer cells can adapt to survive chemotherapy, becoming resistant to treatments that worked before. This can leave fewer effective options for patients, and contributes to the cycle of the cancer returning.

Tackling treatment resistance is crucial to breaking this cycle and improving long-term outcomes for women with ovarian cancer. Several of our research projects at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre are exploring different ways to tackle this.

The problem with trial-and-error treatment

When ovarian cancer returns, it’s often resistant to treatments previously used. Doctors typically rely on platinum-based chemotherapy, a common type of cancer treatment, to treat these relapses. But not all patients benefit from this approach, and ineffective treatments can cause serious harm:

• Precious weeks or months spent on a therapy that doesn’t work.
• Fatigue, nausea, and difficult symptoms that diminish quality of life.
• The frustration and anxiety of facing uncertain outcomes.

These factors can have a big impact on survival rates, as time and energy are spent away from finding potentially more effective options - and the cancer may develop or spread during this time.

How our new research project could change the game

Our new pilot study, launched in late 2024, is testing whether the biomarker linked with ovarian cancer can predict a patient’s response to platinum-based chemotherapy.

This involves a simple blood test that checks for the presence of this biomarker. If the levels indicate that chemotherapy is unlikely to work, doctors can explore alternative options sooner, sparing patients from unnecessary harm.

This approach has several benefits:

• Treatments tailored to the individual, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Fewer side effects by avoiding drugs that are unlikely to help means less exposure to toxic chemicals.
• Improving chance of survival by not wasting time on treatments that don't work and more quickly exploring other options that could give many more years of life.

We’ve funded and fast-tracked this research as we know that addressing the impact of ovarian cancer recurrence is so important. This could change the outcome for so many women living with ovarian cancer.

Why early-stage research matters

Breakthroughs don’t happen overnight. They begin with small, focused studies led by early-career researchers exploring bold ideas. This is where charities like us play a crucial role. By funding pilot projects, we help scientists gather the evidence needed to secure larger grants and expand their work. Every major medical advance starts with this kind of foundational research.