Article Text
Abstract
In September 2018, the 12th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium was presented by the Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer and the American Association for Cancer Research, in Seattle, WA, USA. The 2018 Symposium focused on four broad areas of research: Detection and Prevention of Ovarian Cancer, Genomics and Molecular Mechanisms of Ovarian Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Immunology of Ovarian Cancer, and Novel Therapeutics: Response and Resistance of Ovarian Cancer. In addition, a special panel on the 'Role of Advocates in Ovarian Cancer Research’ was featured.
- ovarian cancer
- research
- rivkin center
- AACR
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In September 2018, the 12th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium was presented by the Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The goal of this Symposium was to bring together clinicians and researchers from across disciplines and institutions worldwide to share new knowledge to advance the field of ovarian cancer research. The conference sought to enhance our understanding of this disease, with the intent of using this information to improve the prevention, early detection, and treatment of ovarian cancer.
A particular focus of this Symposium was the inclusion of early-career investigators during the planning process. During this year’s Symposium, established scientists partnered with early-career investigators to facilitate each session. The 2018 Symposium focused on four broad areas of research: Detection and Prevention of Ovarian Cancer, Genomics and Molecular Mechanisms of Ovarian Cancer, Tumor Microenvironment and Immunology of Ovarian Cancer, and Novel Therapeutics: Response and Resistance of Ovarian Cancer.
The abstracts1 from each of these research areas will be published in Clinical Cancer Research 2 and are reviewed in this supplement to the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. Reflecting a priority of the Rivkin Center, to encourage and support young investigators in the field of ovarian cancer research, these reviews are authored by early-career investigators who are scholars in the Department of Defense-sponsored Ovarian Cancer Academy (OCA) (http://www.ovariancanceracademy.org). OCA members compete for these mentored awards through the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programme (https://cdmrp.army.mil/ocrp/).
The Rivkin Center (www.rivkin.org) was founded in 1996 by Swedish Cancer Institute medical oncologist Saul E Rivkin, MD (now retired), in memory of his wife, Marsha, who lost her life to ovarian cancer. The organization provides seed funding for researchers exploring promising new areas of investigation in the field of ovarian cancer. Areas of priority include innovative research pilot studies, scientific scholar awards for new investigators, and bridge funding awards. To date, the Rivkin Center has awarded more than $13 million in scientific research awards and has a goal to continue to increase its research funding annually. A major focus of the Rivkin Center has been the biennial meetings, held now for more than 20 years, to promote educational and intellectual interactions and collaborations across the spectrum of ovarian cancer clinical and basic science research.
In 2014, the Rivkin Center partnered with the AACR to broaden the scope of research opportunities and information sharing for investigators focused on the study of ovarian cancer. The AACR now organizes biennial fall research symposia alternating with the Rivkin meetings. This fruitful partnership has served to expand the range of clinical, translational, and basic science collaborations in the field of ovarian cancer research, as reflected in the spectrum of abstracts reviewed in the research summaries presented in this supplement. In addition to these summaries, a representative of the patient advocacy community has highlighted perspectives shared during the panel discussion on emerging roles for consumer advocates as medicine and biomedical research become more patient-centric.
Footnotes
Contributors This introduction was written by NJM and DKA, with contributions from DAL and KD.
Funding The authors NJM and DAL received funding, grant number DoD W81XWH-15-1-0428.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.