Interesting research

We live in an amazing time. Medical researchers are working hard every day to discover the causes of and develop treatments for deadly diseases.

Of course, I'm especially interested in the work being done for ovarian cancer. In fact, as a participant in the Olaparib clinical trial, you could say I'm dangling over the cutting edge, hoping I don't fall off. It's a semi-scary, yet exciting place to be. I truly believe Olaparib, and other breakthrough research, will decrease the number of deaths associated with this silent stalker. Unfortunately, the fatality rate of this form of cancer is terribly high with 2,600 women diagnosed and 1,750 dying from this disease in Canada every year. This has to stop.

Some of the breakthrough discoveries come from amazing places. The February 2011 issue of Reader's Digest briefly explained two recent discoveries in the ovarian cancer field:

The shrew
This medical breakthrough story involved a shrew. Since I didn't know exactly what a shrew was, I looked it up this morning. I knew Shakespeare's used the term in his play, The Taming of the Shrew, as a reference to a nasty-tempered woman.

According to Wikipedia, a shew is a small mammal that belongs to the family of small insectivores (eats insects). There are approximately 250 species worldwide, 16 in Canada. Shrews are small (35-180 mm long) and have short legs, a well-developed tail, a long, pointed snout, small eyes and ears. The short-tailed shrew's venom is poisonous, and the American short-tailed shrew's glands have enough to kill 200 mice by intravenous injection.

Researchers have discovered one component of this venom may help treat high blood pressure, while another compound may be useful to treat neuromuscular conditions and migraines.

Jack Stewart, a biochemist at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick discovered small amounts of the protein soricidin in the venom kills ovarian-cancer cells while leaving normal tissue alone. While the conventional chemotherapy treatment kills all rapidly-dividing cells, this type of treatment isolates and treats only the cancer cells. It's very exciting!

In June 2010, Canada's National Research Council invested over $500,000 (which doesn't sound like enough to me) in Soricimed Biopharma Inc., the company Stewart helped start. Phase I trials of soricidin ovarian-cancer therapy begin in 2011. This could be one of the breakthroughs we need to more efficiently battle this horrible affliction.

Out with the fallopian tubes
Researchers at the BC Cancer Agency recently discovered ovarian cancer deaths could be reduced by as much as 30 per cent. Dr. Sarah Finlayson, a gynecological oncologist with the agency's Ovarian Cancer Research Program found the deadliest form of ovarian cancer originates in the fallopian tubes, not the ovaries.

As a result, the BC Cancer Agency is calling for a change in surgical practices so fallopian tubes are removed along with the uterus during hysterectomies and when performing tubal ligation, regardless of the patient's age. For younger patients, the current practice is to remove only the uterus during a hysterectomy and to clip or burn the fallopian tubes to achieve permanent contraception.

If the fallopian tubes aren't present to create this deadliest form of ovarian cancer, then the number of women who succumb to the disease could significantly decrease. No one needs to go through this and prevention is best.

I'm extremely grateful to all those who work hard to find a better way to prevent, detect and treat ovarian cancer. I'm encouraged by the results of new and innovative medical research. It feels as though they're on the brink of something new, different and exciting. This research may provide more and different options for women battling this insidious disease - and most importantly prolong life.

It gives me hope ,and that's an important component of this fight.

Tina