# SPORE in Ovarian Cancer

> **NIH NIH P50** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $1,976,958

## Abstract

OVARIAN CANCER SPORE: SUMMARY
Ovarian cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers in women in the United States and a major cause of
cancer morbidity and mortality. This Johns Hopkins-University of Pennsylvania Ovarian Cancer SPORE
application focuses on reducing ovarian cancer incidence and mortality by translating new laboratory research
discoveries made in our institution into improvements in ovarian cancer detection and treatment. This highly
translational program contains four hypothesis-driven Research Projects, three Core Resources, the Career
Enhancement Program, and the Developmental Research Program. The objective of Project 1 is to determine
whether detection of tumor cells from liquid-based cervical fluid specimens, endometrial cavity brushing and/or
circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) from blood can identify early and low-volume ovarian high-grade serous
carcinoma (HGSC), the most common type of ovarian carcinoma, or its precursor lesion, serous tubal
intraepithelial carcinoma. The goal of Project 2 and Project 3 is to provide critical preclinical and early clinical
data for developing more effective combined therapy to treat advanced ovarian HGSC, especially for recurrent
diseases. Specifically, Project 2 is to optimize synthetic lethality in high-grade ovarian serous ovarian cancer
by using ATR inhibitor and PARP inhibitor. Project 3 based on a recent discovery made by our team proposes
to apply BET inhibitors for overcoming platinum resistance. Project 4 aims to determine that inhibition of
Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (SYK) activity sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to the cytotoxic effect of paclitaxel, and
determine if SYK inhibitor represents a promising new agent to be combined with (weekly) paclitaxel for the
treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.
These Projects are supported by an Administrative Core, a Biorepository/Pathology Core, and a Biostatistics
Core. Finally, the Career Enhancement and Developmental Research Programs comprise pipelines of human
capital and innovative ideas, respectively, which will fuel future SPORE advances. This application is strongly
supported by institutional commitment to ensure its success.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975108
- **Project number:** 5P50CA228991-03
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** IE-MING SHIH
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,976,958
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-18 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975108

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975108, SPORE in Ovarian Cancer (5P50CA228991-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975108. Licensed CC0.

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