Professor Arunasalam Dharmarajan.

A research team co-led by Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute’s (CHIRI) Professor Arunasalam ‘Dharma’ Dharmarajan has secured funding of $566,276 for three years from the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Victoria to define the role of hormones in ovarian cancer.

Working with Co-Chief Investigator Associate Professor Pradeep Tanwar from the University of Newcastle’s Gynaecology Oncology Research Group, the research team’s goal is to improve understanding of the genetics behind the disease.

Dharma said a number of known factors contribute to a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer but many women were not aware of them.

“A woman’s reproductive experience can have a profound effect on her risk of developing ovarian cancer. The risk decreases as the number of children increase and through the use of oral contraceptives, and the risk increases with later age at menopause,” he said.

“While combined oral contraceptive use is the most effective known preventative measure against ovarian cancer, resulting in about a 50 per cent risk reduction after 3-5 years of use, many women with increased genetic risk of developing ovarian cancer are unaware of these benefits.”

Dharma says a deficit in molecular understanding of how ovarian hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) regulate ovarian cancer growth and spread is a key reason why this prevention measure is not applied in a clinical setting, and why further development of hormonal chemotherapy based preventions has been limited.

The research team will seek, for the first time, to define the actions of ovarian hormones in the initiation, progression and spread of ovarian cancer, information it hopes will guide the development of new and improved prevention strategies against the disease.