Enabling precision oncology in rare types of gynecologic cancer

Strength in numbers: Pan-Canadian experts team up to turn the tide on rare gynecological cancers

A newly formed team of pan-Canadian experts will seek to better understand the genetic and clinical landscapes of rare gynecological cancers thanks to new funding from the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN).

Funded through the MOHCCN’s Pan-Canadian Project Program and led by Dr. Mark Stafford Carey (BC Cancer), the team unites leading specialists in gynecological cancers from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. Together, they will collect, share and analyze samples and data to help better understand and treat these cancers.

“The primary goal of the project is to collect patient samples and data that will allow us to discover molecular changes associated with rare gynecological cancers, enhancing our understanding of these diseases,” explains Dr. Carey. “The insights gained from this project will then guide the identification of more effective treatment options, ultimately improving patient management, survival, and quality of life.”

The importance of a unified approach

The team will focus on low-grade serous ovarian carcinomas (LGSOC), clear cell ovarian carcinomas (CCOC), mucinous ovarian carcinomas (MOC), small cell cervix carcinomas (SCNC), HPV-independent vulvar carcinomas (HPV-I SCC) and miscellaneous rare gynecologic cancers.

While individually these rare subtypes of gynecological cancers aren’t common, when taken as a whole, they affect more than one-third of all patients diagnosed with gynecological cancers.

This, coupled with the fact that they tend to be very aggressive, makes them a pressing – yet woefully understudied – area of cancer research.

“As in the study of any other rare cancers, collection of molecular and/or clinical data in large numbers of cases and in good quality has been proven to be extremely difficult,” says Dr. Carey.  “Often, only a few people with any one of these rare gynecologic cancer types will be seen annually at a single Canadian cancer institution, making it very challenging for any one centre to gain medical expertise in this area and to collect enough clinical data and biological samples for further investigation.”

“A collaborative national initiative including multidisciplinary teams are thus critical for the discovery of molecular changes and therapeutic opportunities to improve outcomes for these patients.”

By bringing together experts from four provinces and collaborating across five cancer referral centers, the team will be able to pool resources and data, creating a robust dataset that will help drive discoveries and improve treatment for patients with these diseases. The team will also be contributing this data to the MOHCCN Gold Cohort, ensuring that other researchers in the Network can learn from this data to make discoveries that improve outcomes and quality of life of cancer patients across the country.