The Gynecologic Oncology Program’s multidisciplinary team of physician-scientists and associated health specialists forms a network of expertise that speeds laboratory discoveries into more effective ways to treat, and prevent, gynecologic cancers.

We have been involved in several unique discoveries that have broadened our understanding of how these diseases arise and how to prevent them. For example:

• Duke was a major force in the formation of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), the main national cooperative clinical trials group for gynecologic cancers. To date, Duke has entered more patients in GOG trials than any other institution in the country. A recent study from this group found that women with advanced ovarian cancer can extend their survival by receiving anti-cancer drugs directly into their abdominal cavity in addition to standard intravenous (IV) chemotherapy.
• Duke researchers have shown a biological link between the number of times a woman ovulates over her lifetime and alterations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene in ovarian cancers. This suggests that ovulation suppression using birth control pills or other methods may be useful in protecting against this subset of the disease.
• Duke researchers helped discover BRCA1 and BRCA2, the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes. Researchers at Duke continue to study the genetics of these cancers.
• Duke researchers created the North Carolina Ovarian Cancer Study, a population-based study in central and eastern North Carolina that aims to increase the understanding of the origins of ovarian cancer and to translate this knowledge into effective preventive strategies.
• Researchers at Duke have shown that microarray analysis of ovarian cancer tissues obtained at surgery can be used to predict the outcome of treatment.
• Researchers at Duke discovered that the hormone progestin contained in oral contraceptives activates a critical molecular process that induces damaged ovarian cells to die before they turn malignant. This knowledge may prove critically important in developing prevention strategies that reduce ovarian cancer risk.
• The Gynecologic Oncology Program has a tissue bank of more than 3,000 frozen samples. The bank is a unique resource for research aimed at understanding the causes of gynecologic cancers.