Glasgow Hospitals are the base for major new cancer research

Feb 15 2012 By Emma Smith

Glasgow Royal Infirmary

GLASGOW has become the base for a major ovarian cancer research scheme that could save lives.

The Beatson Centre and Glasgow Royal Infirmary are to take part in the UK’s first nationwide
laboratory project for the disease.

The initiative – known as BriTROC (British Translational Research Ovarian Cancer Collaborative) –
will enable the creation of a high-quality nationwide tissue and bio specimen bank.

Until now, a biopsy is only taken from women with ovarian cancer at diagnosis and subsequent
biopsies are not taken as a matter of routine.

But now, BriTROC funding will ensure that all eight centres around the UK involved in the project can collect biopsies throughout the progression of a patient’s cancer and monitor how it changes.

The data will help researchers understand ovarian cancer better, leading to therapies suited to the specific tumour and it will also determine drug resistance.

The Beatson’s Dr Rosalind Glasspool said: “We know that
ovarian cancer behaves differently when it recurs after chemotherapy and that it becomes resistant to standard treatments but we understand very little about why.

“We hope that the first project will allow us to make significant
progress towards gaining this
understanding and develop more effective treatments.”

Rosie Lennard, an ovarian
cancer patient from the city, said: “Women like me in remission, live daily under a cloud knowing that should the cancer return, there is less likely to be a positive outcome second time around with
chemotherapy.

“Ovarian tumours are able to modify and develop a resistance to drug treatment. I would welcome any scientific advancements that could be found soon to substantially reduce reoccurrence rates.”

Ovarian cancer kills one woman every two hours in the UK.