Most women with ovarian cancer – especially those diagnosed with the most common form, high-grade serous cancer – initially respond well to chemotherapy; however, most eventually relapse and become resistant to standard therapy. Furthermore, many individuals diagnosed with the less common types of ovarian cancer do not respond to chemotherapy.

Dr. Mes-Masson and her team are working to provide new treatment options for all types of ovarian cancer. They have identified a protein named Ran as a potential therapeutic target for ovarian cancer. They have shown that blocking Ran in ovarian cancer cells leads to their death, but that normal cells can tolerate the loss of Ran. They have developed new drugs that target Ran and will test these in different types of ovarian cancer to identify populations of patients who may benefit from these drugs.