Department of Defense (DoD)

Ovarian Cancer Research Program at the Department of Defense:

The Department of Defense’s Ovarian Cancer Research Program∗ (OCRP), established in 1997, conducts innovative, multidisciplinary research on early detection, screening and treatment of ovarian cancer.  The OCRP also works to attract new investigators to the field of ovarian cancer research.  Modeled after the successful Breast Cancer Research Program created in 1992, the OCRP has helped advance understanding and treatment of ovarian cancer by supporting:

  • A research project using immunotherapy, rather than chemotherapy or surgery, to fight ovarian tumors;
  • Research on biomarkers, including the discovery of a biomarker that is elevated three years prior to clinical diagnosis of ovarian cancer;
  • Exploration of the use of a new drug as a single agent and in combination with existing chemotherapy regiments to shrink tumors;
  • Preclinical studies of DNA therapies that induce ovarian cancer cell death without any toxicity to normal cells; and
  • Phase II research in angiogenesis inhibitors, which stop new blood vessels from forming into a tumor.

Research conducted through DoD Ovarian Cancer Research Program grants has resulted in multiple breakthroughs.  However, without increased financial support for additional research and clinical trials, the medical potential of these discoveries will never be realized.  Resources are needed to sustain ongoing research, and additional funding is needed to attract new science and move breakthroughs from the laboratory to the patient.

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance reached out to Congress and requested that Elected Officials sign onto a letter to the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the $30 million funding request.  The  Senate letter for the FY 2011 DoD OCRP  received the signatures of 25 Senators.  The House letter for FY 2011 received the signatures of 84 Representatives.

∗ The OCRP is a peer-reviewed, competitively bid Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program and is not considered an earmark by the Office of Management and Budget or the Congress.  Specifically, the program does not meet the legal definition of an earmark as outlined in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, 2 USC 1601 [P.L. 110-81].