Your Cancer Is Our Challenge
Feeling informed
We are focused on addressing gaps in gynaecologic cancer care, supporting you every step of the way.
We believe informed patients are empowered patients. Through Your Cancer Is Our Challenge, we're listening to real experiences, gathering vital insights and developing practical resources to help you navigate your unique experience with greater confidence.
Our survey found1:
9 out of 10
patients
want to know more about testing options to inform their treatment
64% of
patients
have a family history of gynaecologic cancer, yet more than a third haven’t had genetic testing
Different types of cancers often need different types of biomarker testing. Understanding what tests may be most important for you can help you get the right information.
$Heading
“With the prevalence of precision medicine and biomarker-based treatment decisions in cancer care, it’s important for healthcare providers to offer guidance and direct patients to resources to help them understand their options, which are often highly tailored to the individual patient.”
Dr Amina Ahmed,
Gynaecologic oncologist, RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center
Knowing your biomarker status can help your healthcare team better understand how the cancer may behave, and to identify treatment options that are most likely to work for you and your specific cancer.
What is a biomarker?
In cancer care, biomarkers are specific characteristics found in cells, such as proteins or DNA, which can help your doctor understand your cancer risks and recommend treatment options. Like many other cancers, ovarian and endometrial cancer have biomarkers that can be identified through testing.
Expert insights: the power of testing
Hear from a doctor on how your test results may impact your gynaecologic cancer care.
Common types of biomarker testing - what’s the difference?
Genetic testing:
sometimes called "germline" testing
- The most common type of biomarker testing for ovarian cancer.
- What it looks for: changes in specific genes that might increase your risk of certain cancers. Gene changes can either be inherited (run in your family), or can develop during your lifetime.
- When it's done: can be done anytime — before, during or after diagnosis — often to asses risk if you have a family history of cancer.
- How it's done: typically a blood or saliva sample.
Tumour testing:
- The most common type of biomarker testing for endometrial cancer.
- What it looks for: presence or absence of specific proteins/biomarkers that can help predict cancer behavior or potential response to treatments to help determine which treatment is best for you.
- When it’s done: during or after diagnosis.
- How it’s done: often a tissue sample from the tumour.
Genomic testing:
sometimes called "somatic" testing
- Genomic testing in ovarian and endometrial cancer is not considered standard of practice in all countries.
- What it looks for: changes within your cancer cells’ DNA to help personalise treatment.
- When it's done: after a cancer diagnosis.
- How it's done: often on the tumour itself, via biopsy or surgery.
There are many biomarkers associated with gynaecologic cancers. Be sure to ask your doctor about them.
-
Common ovarian cancer biomarkers
- BRCA: normally, BRCA genes protect against cancer. Mutations can cause them to malfunction. Testing can assess this risk but does not definitively predict cancer. Genetic testing for BRCA mutations is done via blood or saliva.
- Homologous recombination deficiency (HRD): HRD means your DNA repair system isn't working properly. If a tumour is HRD-positive, cancer cells struggle to repair themselves, which can influence treatment response. Genomic HRD testing is done via biopsy or tumour sample.
Other, less common ovarian cancer biomarkers to test for include:
- Folate receptor-alpha (FR-alpha): testing can show if your cancer is more likely to respond to certain treatments based on levels of the FR-alpha protein on the cancer cells.
- MSI: people might have their tumour tested for high levels of gene changes called microsatellite instability (MSI). Changes in MSI genes are often seen in people with Lynch syndrome.
- NTRK: some people might be tested for changes in one of the NTRK genes. Cells with these gene changes can lead to abnormal cell growth and cancer.
- CA-125: testing can measure the amount of the protein cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in the blood to screen for ovarian cancer for people at high risk, monitor treatment and check for recurrence.
Watch Chris’s story to hear how her ovarian cancer is tied to the BRCA gene.
Exploring treatment options
Understanding your treatment plan is a key step in your experience. Here, we outline common approaches for ovarian and endometrial cancers.
-
Ovarian cancer treatment
Treatment plans are highly individualised, depending on the stage of your ovarian cancer. Often, a combination of approaches is used for the greatest outcome.
- Surgery: often the first step, aiming to remove as much of the tumour as possible. This may be referred to as “debulking” and is intended to make the medical treatments that follow more effective. This may involve removing reproductive organs or other affected tissues.
- Chemotherapy: drugs designed to destroy cancer cells, given intravenously (IV) or orally, before and/or after surgery.
- Targeted therapy: medications that specifically identify and attack cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. Administered orally, via injection or IV.
- Hormone therapy: works by blocking hormones that cancer cells need to grow, slowing or stopping cancer progression. Can be used after surgery or for advanced disease.
- For some types of ovarian cancer that respond well to specific chemotherapies, following completion of active treatment, maintenance therapy can be an important option to reduce the risk of or delay potential return of the cancer. It is important to discuss this with your healthcare team early in your treatment so you can make well-informed decisions throughout your journey.
Hear from others: ovarian cancer treatment experiences
You don't have to face this alone. Listen to others who have navigated ovarian cancer:
-
Endometrial cancer treatment
The majority of people with endometrial cancer are diagnosed early and primarily treated with surgery, which may include:
- Total hysterectomy: removal of the uterus, including the cervix.
- Radical hysterectomy: removal of the uterus, surrounding tissues and part of the vagina.
- Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes.
- Lymph node dissection: removal and testing of lymph nodes for cancer spread.
Additional treatment options may include:
- Radiation: high-energy X-rays or other radiation types to destroy cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy: drugs designed to destroy cancer cells, given intravenously (IV) or orally, before or after surgery.
- Targeted therapy: medications that specifically identify and attack cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. Administered orally, via injection or IV.
- Hormone therapy: works by blocking hormones that cancer cells need to grow, slowing or stopping cancer progression. Can be used after surgery or for advanced disease.
- Immunotherapy: A type of targeted therapy that helps your own immune system recognise and fight cancer cells.
Approximately 15-20% of patients with endometrial cancer are diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer at the time of diagnosis.
If you are living with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer, talk to your healthcare team about treatment options, including immunotherapy.
Andria’s tips: Andria, an endometrial cancer patient, shares her valuable insights and tips for navigating this experience.
Questions about cancer treatment
You will likely have questions about treatment. Here are a few questions to help you begin the discussion with your care team:
- What should I expect during treatment?
- How will it impact my life?
- How do I know if the treatment is working?
- Are there considerations for my sexual health or fertility related to my treatment(s)?
- Will I need to be hospitalised?
- What happens when I finish treatment?
Clinical trials: exploring new possibilities
Clinical trials are a vital part of advancing cancer care, offering access to investigational or approved treatments. Each trial has specific criteria, including but not limited to: diagnosis, age, health status and medical history, to ensure it's an appropriate fit for participants.
- Phase 1: evaluates the safety of a potential new treatment, often conducted in healthy volunteers.
- Phase 2: measures whether a medicine works (efficacy) in patients who have the specific disease of interest. Several doses of the new treatment are often tested to help identify an optimal dose in patients. Safety is also monitored.
- Phase 3: tests the safety and efficacy of the new treatment, and the optimal dose to treat the disease is confirmed. Also examines the safety and efficacy of the new treatment compared to existing treatments. Safety is also monitored.
- Phase 4: monitors longer-term safety and effectiveness after a treatment is approved and available, or how well the treatment works when it’s used more broadly, outside of a trial.
The 4 phases of clinical trials:
Interested in learning more? Talk with your healthcare provider to see if a clinical trial might be an option for you.