Gynecology Oncology Research Areas

With the inaugural donation by the Delaware Ovarian Cancer Foundation in 2016, the Gynecologic Oncology Division established its translational research program based at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center. The founding aim was to create and maintain a comprehensive biorepository of patient tumor, tissue, and plasma, linked to clinical data and outcomes, in order to allow for clinical research as well as tumor and tissue research on a molecular level. By following patients as they progress through treatment and into remission, the hope is to also to follow their progress on a molecular level, and allow for more personalized and targeted therapies for ovarian cancer.

Ongoing collaborations with scientists at The Wistar Institute have allowed patients treated at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center to participate in basic science research studying novel ovarian cancer biomarkers for improved early detection of ovarian cancer, as well as more precise evaluation of treatment response and recurrence. Patients treated at the Helen F. Graham have allowed for the development of xenograft mouse models of ovarian cancer to be established and studied, with the aim of developing targeted therapies for rare cancer types. These findings will then return to the Helen F. Graham with resulting phase 1 trials offering novel targeted therapy for patients with limited options for treatment.

In addition to the many phase 3 NCI clinical trials offered at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, the Division of Gynecologic Oncology is partnering with Inovio Pharmaceuticals to offer a breakthrough treatment for pre-cancer changes of the vulva and cervix. This vaccine-based immunotherapy phase 2 trial will give women with high-grade pre-cancer cells a non-surgical and less invasive option for treatment, which may better preserve their reproductive health and wellbeing.