Understanding how ovarian cancer cells resist treatment and finding new ways to overcome it
Official title: Signaling basis of senescence-associated secretory phenotype and its implications in epithelial ovarian cancer
Funded at University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr · NIH-11136975 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work explores how ovarian cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy and aims to find new treatment combinations that can stop this resistance.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | August 2, 2023 |
| Project end | July 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $521,509 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA276569-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11136975 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This foundational work is relevant for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, especially those who may experience therapy resistance or have BRCA mutations.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without epithelial ovarian cancer or those not undergoing platinum-based chemotherapy may not directly benefit from this specific research at its current stage.
What this research studies
When ovarian cancer cells are treated with chemotherapy, they can enter a state called senescence, which usually stops their growth. However, these senescent cells can also release substances that help the cancer return and escape the immune system. This project looks into the specific signals that cause these cells to release harmful substances, focusing on a protein called TXNRD1. By understanding how TXNRD1 controls this process, we hope to develop new combination therapies that can eliminate these resistant cells while keeping the beneficial growth arrest.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new combination therapies that prevent ovarian cancer from becoming resistant to chemotherapy, improving treatment outcomes for patients.
How similar studies have gone: While the concept of targeting senescent cells is gaining traction, this specific approach of inhibiting TXNRD1 to control the senescence-associated secretory phenotype in ovarian cancer is a novel area of investigation.
Where this research is happening
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University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhang, Rugang — University of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
- Study coordinator: Zhang, Rugang
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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.