A multidisciplinary team of leading ovarian cancer researchers in Saskatchewan – including Dr. Laura Hopkins, Dr. Franco Vizeacoumar, Dr. Andrew Freywald, Dr. Dean Chamberlain and others – are running a “proof-of-concept” trial that uses patient-derived models (“avatars”) in the lab to guide personalized medicine. Research models such as patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and tumor microtissue (MTS) are living representations of a patient’s tumour and mimic the behavior of the tumour in several important ways, including whether it responds to a drug.

All patients with advanced ovarian cancer (of any type) who are having surgery for initial diagnosis or recurrence will be approached. Upon consent, patient-derived tissue will be used to develop PDO and MTS models for drug sensitivity and resistance testing in the lab. Clusters of live tumour cells will also be sent for rapid testing through Travera^TM, with these reports sent to patients and oncologists within 48 hours.

When a patient relapses, drug sensitivity results from PDO/MTS/Travera^TM testing will be used to identify their best option/s for treatment, such as enrollment in a specific clinical trial or the physician’s choice of standard second-line therapy if a clinical trial is not available. Sensitivity testing of fresh samples from low-risk biopsies following disease progression will also help guide palliative treatment options for some patients.

At the end of the trial, the team will perform a retrospective chart review to see how well the drug sensitivity results predicted the patient’s response to a specific treatment. With this study, the team hopes to provide evidence that drug sensitivity testing can improve confidence and reliability in drug choice and lead to better cancer response and quality of life for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

“This project represents a paradigm shift in ovarian cancer care, bridging the gap between research and clinical practice to make precision drug selection a reality. Through unbiased drug screening, we aim to deliver more effective, rational, and personalized treatment strategies.”