Larisa Litovchick
Virginia Commonwealth University, VA·Pharmacology
Ovarian cancer is usually found at an advanced stage. Platinum-based chemotherapy combined with surgery works well at first, but most patients relapse within five years with tumors that no longer respond to platinum drugs.
- Fields
Pharmacology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biochemistry
- Topics
ovarian cancer
platinum resistance
carboplatin
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2028
What they work on
- Test whether high levels of chondroitin-4-sulfate (C4S), a sulfated sugar chain on tumor cells, contribute to platinum resistance in ovarian cancer, using mouse tumor models.
- Evaluate whether Triplatin, a positively charged three-platinum drug taken up through GAGs, outperforms available therapies against platinum-resistant primary and recurrent ovarian tumors in mice, including measuring drug accumulation in tumors and organs.
- Characterize GAG profiling as a candidate companion diagnostic marker to identify which ovarian cancer patients are most likely to benefit from conventional or GAG-targeted platinum drugs.
More about the research
The clear cell subtype is especially hard to treat because it often resists platinum from the start. A drug can only work if enough of it gets into the tumor, so improving drug uptake could help overcome this resistance.
Why it matters
Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer responds to further chemotherapy in fewer than 15% of patients. Profiling GAG sugar chains in tumors could help predict whether a patient will respond to standard or newer platinum drugs. GAG-targeted agents such as Triplatin could offer better treatment for resistant and clear cell ovarian cancers, potentially improving survival.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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California Institute of Technology, CA·Chemistry
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University of Minnesota, MN·Genetics
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Sham Kakar
University of Louisville, KY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine the safety, tolerability and maximum tolerated dose of withaferin A, given as oral ashwagandha capsules at 2, 4 and 8 g twice daily, combined with standard liposomal doxorubicin (DOXIL) in 18 patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.
The school
Virginia Commonwealth University: 19 labs on PI Pages, $524M a year on research, 438 research doctorates a year.
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