Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S. and kills approximately 14,000 women each year (Nezhat et al., 2015). Survival increases with early diagnosis; the five-year survival rate in stage I is 90%. Symptoms are vague and common to many health diseases, which may well explain why upwards of 70% of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at stage III or IV (Slatnik & Duff, 2015). Preventative guidelines in the U.S. do not recommend screening for ovarian cancer in women of average risk (AAFP, 2016b; ACOG, 2011; Doubeni et al., 2016; Moyer, 2012; NCCN, 2015; Qaseem et al., 2014; Wilt et al., 2015). A lack of screening recommendations and a subtle presentation point to the need for greater healthcare professional recognition of symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer, which can then lead to a prompt diagnosis. While healthcare professionals have the opportunity to improve women’s health, gaps in knowledge exist related to ovarian cancer risk factors and symptom recognition (Gajjar et al., 2012). Continuing education improves healthcare professionals’ performance and patient health outcomes (Cervero & Gaines, 2015). Increasing healthcare professionals’ knowledge of ovarian cancer may help to detect ovarian cancer in earlier stages and enhance health outcomes of women. Based on the need for an increase in awareness and knowledge among healthcare professionals, a local ovarian cancer conference was developed and offered to healthcare professionals. The conference focused on presenting ovarian cancer risk factors and symptoms. Attendees were provided with an ovarian cancer resource for patient education. The conference was evaluated through pretests and posttests and a conference evaluation survey. Data was collected the evening of the conference with 29 attendees responding. After the conference, correct responses increased in the areas of risk factor and symptom recognition. The number of correct responses increased from 106 on the pretest to 122 on the posttest. In regards to ability to educate women about ovarian cancer, 62% of respondents indicated that they were “very confident” in their ability. / Pam Solseng Ovarian Cancer Endowment Fund

Electronic biosensors utilizing micron-scale interdigitate electrodes (IDEs) in an SD card format have been developed with the objective of fast, sensitive detection of ovarian cancer biomarkers CA-125, CEA, and He4. The signal generated by the biosensors is a result of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), a technique which probes changes that occur in the biosensor's electrical properties when the biosensor has detected one of the target biomarkers. A label-free biosensor has been developed to detect CA-125 in spiked buffer at concentrations between 10 and 80units/mL. A similar label-free biosensor was developed to detect CEA at concentrations between 10ug/mL and 10mg/mL. A biosensor employing a protein-enzyme conjugated label was developed to detect He4 at concentrations ranging from 1.56 to 100ng/mL in spiked buffer. All concentration ranges of CA-125, CEA, and He4 detected by the biosensors include the serum concentration currently used for clinical diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Efforts to improve the signals generated by the biosensors included altering the dimensions and composition of the IDEs used in the initial biosensors through software-created models. Modeled alterations included the size of the electrodes, the shape of the electrodes, and the incorporation of nanomaterials into the IDEs. An ideal geometry for the IDEs was developed through the models and IDEs with those dimensions were fabricated and tested against the IDEs used in the biosensors initially with the model-developed geometry improving the signal generated by the biosensor. Another attempt to improve the biosensor's signal was to generate a single strand of DNA (ssDNA) that would bind to CA-125, called an aptamer, that could be easily incorporated into the sensing layer on the IDEs. Through a multistep selection process nine different aptamers that exhibited binding to CA-125 were identified.

[Truncated abstract] Ovarian cancer is currently the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancies in women from developed countries. Serous ovarian cancer is the most prevalent type of all ovarian cancers, with the majority diagnosed in an advanced stage where treatment efficacy is reduced and patient survival is poor. Because of this fact, the development of improved detection and treatment strategies are necessary, with much research focussing on the complex molecular pathways involved in ovarian tumour growth as one potential avenue for intervention. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is one such area of investigation because currently successful cancer treatments induce apoptosis in tumour cells. Molecular analysis of apoptosis in both normal tissue and tumours has established a positive relationship between increased expression of secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) and apoptosis, however to date, very little research has focussed on the role of this gene in the ovary . . . An examination of SFRP4 and β-catenin expression in 163 primary serous ovarian carcinomas revealed high SFRP4 expression was associated with low β-catenin expression and conversely, low SFRP4 was associated with high β-catenin expression in the majority of the ovarian tumours analysed, reinforcing the inverse relationship observed in the ovarian cell lines. A positive trend was observed between cancer stage and the expression level of these proteins, with increased SFRP4 expression and reduced β-catenin expression as cancer stage increased. Additionally, patient survival revealed a trend towards increased survival among ovarian cancer patients who had tumours expressing low levels of SFRP4. Taken together, the novel findings of this study indicate that the increased expression of SFRP4 observed in a large proportion of serous ovarian cancers is a cellular response to down-regulate the level of β-catenin, and thus an attempt to maintain cellular homeostasis by counteracting the excessive proliferating signals present in these tumour cells.