How stress and aspirin affect ovarian cancer
Official title: The impact of biobehavioral factors and aspirin on ovarian cancer biology
Funded at Ponce School of Medicine · NIH-11169915 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether ongoing stress increases inflammation and immune suppression in ovarian tumors and whether taking aspirin can reduce those harmful effects for people with ovarian cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ponce School of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ponce, United States) |
| Project start | September 25, 2012 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $144,604 |
| NIH project number | 5U54CA163071-13 |
| Project ID | NIH-11169915 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer—especially high‑grade serous tumors—or women already enrolled in the long‑term cohorts or hospital collections who can provide medical history and tumor tissue.
✕Less likely to help
People without ovarian cancer, those with non‑epithelial ovarian tumors, or individuals who cannot provide tumor samples or relevant medical history are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
You would hear from researchers who combine long-term study data, a population case-control group, and hospital case series to link self-reported chronic stress or depression with ovarian tumor biology. They will measure gene activity in high‑grade serous tumor samples using RNA sequencing to find inflammation and immune‑suppression signals tied to distress. The team will compare tumor signals in people who used low or standard doses of aspirin versus those who did not to see whether aspirin changes those patterns. Lab experiments and existing patient tissue/data are used together to understand biological mechanisms that could explain prior links between stress, aspirin, and outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to aspirin use or stress‑management approaches that lower tumor inflammation and potentially improve prevention or survival for ovarian cancer patients.
How similar studies have gone: Observational studies have linked aspirin use to lower ovarian cancer risk and better survival and laboratory work shows stress hormones can promote tumor growth, but the specific tumor‑level mechanisms in people remain relatively untested.
Where this research is happening
-
Ponce School of Medicine
Ponce, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Armaiz-Pena, Guillermo N — Ponce School of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Armaiz-Pena, Guillermo N
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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.