How platinum chemotherapy reshapes the tumor's surrounding support in ovarian cancer
Official title: Elucidating spatiotemporal dynamics of nascent extracellular matrix in response to platinum treatment in ovarian cancer
Funded at Sanford Research/usd · NIH-11330631 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers will track how platinum chemotherapy changes the tumor’s surrounding support structures in high-grade serous ovarian cancer to learn why tumors often return.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Sanford Research/usd NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Sioux Falls, United States) |
| Project start | May 12, 2025 |
| Project end | April 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $546,275 |
| NIH project number | 5R37CA291976-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11330631 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants would be people with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma who can provide tumor tissue or are treated at centers partnering with Sanford Research, especially those receiving platinum chemotherapy.
✕Less likely to help
People without ovarian cancer or with non-high-grade serous subtypes are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
This project uses laboratory models that mimic ovarian tumors, patient-derived tumor samples, and mouse-grown human tumors to follow newly made extracellular matrix after chemotherapy. Scientists will label newly produced proteins, image them with high-resolution microscopy, and analyze their composition using proteomics. The work combines engineered 3-D tumor co-cultures with patient and PDX biopsy material to link lab findings to real human tumors. Results aim to reveal when and where the tumor environment changes during and after platinum treatment.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could point to new ways to prevent or overcome chemotherapy resistance and lower the chance of ovarian cancer recurrence.
How similar studies have gone: Laboratory studies have linked extracellular matrix changes to chemotherapy resistance and related lab techniques have been used before, but applying detailed spatiotemporal tracking to patient tumors is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Sanford Research/usd
Sioux Falls, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: De la Puente, Pilar — Sanford Research/usd
- Study coordinator: De la Puente, Pilar
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding the experience of ovarian cancer after diagnosis to improve survivorship
This NIH grant funds a mixed-methods study to better understand physical and emotional challenges faced by ovarian cancer survivors and how supportive care can help them live better after diagnosis.
-
Targeting quiescent ovarian cancer cells to overcome chemotherapy resistance
A study focusing on why some ovarian cancer cells pause dividing and resist chemotherapy, with the goal of finding new treatment targets for relapsed disease.
-
Photodynamic lipids to boost chemotherapy for metastatic ovarian cancer
A patient-friendly approach tests a light-activated method to make ovarian cancer metastases more sensitive to chemotherapy.
-
Integrated framework to validate and quantify proteoforms in patient-derived ovarian cancer cells
A collaboration will combine advanced top-down proteomics with a new computational method to precisely identify and measure intact proteoforms in tiny samples from ovarian cancer cells.
-
Overcoming platinum resistance in ovarian cancer: finding biomarkers and new targets
Researchers are looking for new biomarkers and targets to help prevent or overcome platinum resistance in high‑risk ovarian cancer so patients have better chances at long-term control.
-
Alternative NF-kB activation after chemotherapy in ovarian cancer
This grant studies how ovarian cancer might come back after chemotherapy by looking at specific signaling pathways in cancer cells and the tumor environment.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.