It is with a heavy heart that we announce the Gynecologic Cancers 5k will no longer take place, due to the conclusion of the Cancer Wellness Program. For years, this event was a beacon of hope and a powerful way to honor those touched by gynecologic cancers.
However, the fight for a future free from these Gynecologic Cancers presses on. Groundbreaking research continues at the University of Rochester Medical Center, led by the brilliant Dr. Richard Moore. His dedication and the vital work being done in his lab offer immense promise.
You can directly support this critical research and help us continue to make strides against gynecologic cancers. Learn more about Dr. Moore’s incredible work in the article below, and consider donating directly to URMC and Dr. Moore’s lab here
Our deepest gratitude goes out to everyone who supported the Gynecologic Cancers 5k and Cancer Wellness Connections; your unwavering dedication helped us uplift and celebrate women and families throughout their outpatient chemotherapy journeys and beyond.
Unlocking New Treatments: Dr. Richard Moore’s Lab at Wilmot Cancer Institute Leads Gynecologic Cancer Research – by Patti Singer
At the end of a long corridor on the third floor of the Wilmot Cancer Center, a door opens on the beginnings of new ways to detect and treat ovarian cancer. And Rochester women, their families, friends and neighbors are helping discoveries take place in the lab of Dr. Richard Moore, division chief of gynecological oncology at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, now a National Cancer Institute designated center. For the past 17 years, Cancer Wellness Connections has raised money through its Gynecologic Cancer 5K for programs that support women in their outpatient chemotherapy. The fundraising also has led to donations to Moore’s molecular therapeutics lab. When CWC announced in MONTH that it will discontinue its programs, it said it will transfer all funds to Dr. Moore’s lab for continued research.
“We’re so appreciative of the support that Cancer Wellness Connections has given us,” Dr. Moore said. “It helps our research here at the University of Rochester and Wilmot Cancer Institute. It will help patients in this region.” Dr. Moore also is the Chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and a practicing gynecologic oncologist. He explained the work going on in his lab at the Wilmot Cancer Center and how that work helps women in Rochester and the Finger Lakes region.
What is your research?
We research the biological signs for ovarian and endometrial cancers and ways to develop treatments.
When I came to Wilmot from Brown University, I brought a test that we developed there and now is used to help diagnosis ovarian cancer in women in this region. It’s called the Risk of Malignancy Algorithm, or ROMA. Women who have ovarian cysts can have that test done by their doctor, and the test will say whether a woman is at high or low risk for having a cancer. Our lab and the people who work with us developed a blood test to identify a particular protein that could determine whether an ovarian cyst or pelvic mass was cancer. The protein is HE4, and it’s something that cancer cells will produce. Normal cells don’t produce HE4. So the blood test would help us detect that protein and say yes, this a cancer, or no, it’s not a cancer.
We also knew that when cancer cells had this HE4 protein, they were resistant to chemotherapy. We’ve seen in our research that if we can take away that protein, or block it, now the cancer cells are susceptible to chemotherapy. Patients can live longer if we can block that HE4 protein.
But you’re not stopping at the blood test. What’s the next question you’re trying to answer?
Once we determined the blood test to detect the protein that the cancer cell is making, the next step was figuring out what the protein does. We developed a targeted therapy – think of a lock and key. If a cancer cell has a certain lock on it and we have the key, we can turn off that cancer cell. So we are developing a drug that essentially is the key that turns off HE4 production. That means the cancer is more likely to respond to treatment. We’re hoping to start clinical trials of this drug in the next year or two. So it’s a journey. First, developing a test so that we know the cancer cell is actually producing that protein, then being able to detect the cancer, and now developing a drug to treat it.
How is this different from other research?
This is another type of targeted therapy, and we’re going to need many different targeted therapies for the many cancers that we have. Cancer cells are smart. They can make these proteins that turn off the immune system and make the cancer invisible to our immune system that really is designed to attack the cancer cell. HE4 makes the tumor invisible. So immune cells come in and say, “Oh, there’s nothing here,” because HE4 is turning off those immune cells. If we can block that signal, then when chemotherapy comes in, it says, “There is a cancer here, it’s a foreign body, we’re going to now attack it.” So the drug will take away that smokescreen that the cancer puts up and prevents the immune system from seeing it.
How is this research helping women?
The research into HE4 has enabled a lot of women who were presenting with ovarian cysts be able to find the right care. If their test came back high based on this bloodtest, then they would see a gynecologic oncologist who specializes in ovarian cancer.
If that test was low, then they could stay with their OBGYNs and safely be managed, knowing that the cyst is not a cancer. The HE4 test, and a risk assessment score that I helped develop, allowed them to get a diagnosis and be referred to the right institutions and the right care providers that they weren’t getting before. So it speeds up their diagnosis and gets them to the right teams that can take care of them.
What does it mean to you that you’ve received local support through Cancer Wellness Connections?
To have those funds stay in our community to help our patients is very important. I see some of my patients when I’m out. I had one patient pull me aside at Walmart the other day and said “I’ve been cancer free for five years,” and she was on one of our clinical trials. So that’s immensely rewarding. I can’t say how much that means to me to see a patient do so well, so bringing that level of care to the Rochester region is very important. It’s also helping us to develop young researchers. We have a gynecological oncology fellowship, which is a national fellowship. These are really the physicians of the future and the researchers of the future that are going to generate new treatments and new cures for cancer. It’s exciting that it’s happening right here. There’s nothing better than having the community here supporting that and being proud of having them be able to stay here in the community to get their care.