Early Detection of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer using Next Generation Biopanning techniques

Marika Kanjuga 

Marika Kanjuga was awarded an Attracta O’Regan PhD Scholarship in partnership with Breakthrough Cancer Research. Marika is working in Dr. Sharon O’Toole’s lab at Trinity College Dublin.

Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage due to its vague symptoms, which are frequently mistaken for other conditions. Over 70% of cases are identified when the disease has already progressed, making it the most lethal gynaecological malignancy. At these late stages, treatment becomes challenging, and the cancer often metastasizes to other parts of the body. This results in a drastic difference in survival rates: close to 90% for stage 1, compared to only around 20% for stage 4. Therefore, improving early detection is crucial for enhancing patient outcomes. Currently, biomarkers like CA125 are used in the clinic to help diagnose ovarian cancer, but they lack specificity and can be elevated in some benign conditions. This project aims to enhance the early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer by identifying novel, highly specific biomarkers detectable in blood and developing an assay for their detection. This will be achieved through two main methods: SELEX (an aptamer-based approach for de-novo biomarker discovery) and Phage Display (an antibody-based approach for developing an assay).

The human body can be thought of as a dynamic 3D jigsaw puzzle, with billions of different molecular shapes that, when closely examined, reveal whether a person is healthy or diseased. These shapes act as biomarkers – indicators of biological health or illness. However, relying on a single marker often provides an incomplete picture. To accurately predict diseases like cancer, we need to identify multiple, highly specific biomarkers. When cancer cells emerge, they produce unique molecular shapes that were not present before. Our goal is to find these specific shapes using the latest technology, which allows us to generate and screen an immense library of potential binding shapes – over 100 billion trillion possibilities. These include antibodies and aptamers, which can precisely bind to the unique cancer markers present in a patient’s blood, allowing us to detect the disease accurately at an earlier, more treatable stage.