New Ovarian Cancer Hope for Women

Scientists Bring Early Detection Closer

"Many cancers have a high cure rate if diagnosed early," Dr. Ingegerd Hellstrom, principal scientist at PNRI and the lead author of the new paper, says. "But not if diagnosed late. Unfortunately, ovarian carcinoma is most often diagnosed when it is already in an advanced stage. Even after surgery and chemotherapy, relapses are common."

According to the American Cancer Society, the survival statistics are dismal. Three out of four cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in late stages. Last year alone, nearly 14,000 women died of the disease.

2003 WRISG Meeting in Seattle

In the past few years, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving our understanding of ß-cell biology as a necessary step towards developing a definitive therapy for both type-1 and type-2 diabetes. To further facilitate progress and cooperation in the area of ß-cell biology, the idea of starting a Western Region Islet Study Group (WRISG) was proposed in the summer of 2000 to bring together up to 100 participants at an annual meeting to meet and exchange ideas. A strong emphasis on the participation of young investigators at the graduate and postgraduate level was proposed. An organizing committee was chosen of established researchers in basic islet and diabetes research from 6 geographically dispersed centers including Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.

PNRI is proud to host this year's WRISG meeting.

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