Join me this year for a celebration, remembrance, and support of ovarian cancer fighters everywhere. The event benefits the Dagenais Joly-Smith Fund and all proceeds will be directed towards Dr. Lucy Gilbert’s DOvEEgene project.
What is the DOvEEgene project?
Ovarian and endometrial cancer-related deaths are within the top four causes of cancer deaths in North American women. Because of the lack of symptoms in early stage, these cancers continue to be diagnosed in Stage III/IV with metastasis outside the gynecologic organs making cure unlikely. The project will develop DOvEEgene, a genomic uterine pap test that aims to screen and detect these cancers while they are confined to the gynecologic organs and curable.
The test will use next-generation sequencing to interrogate 23 genes involved in the development of sporadic and hereditary ovarian and endometrial cancers in women between 45-70 years. Currently the direct costs of treating the 10,000 Canadian women diagnosed with these cancers every year is over $1 billion. It is expected that with DOvEEgene and diagnosis in earlier stages these expenditures could be decreased by up to $250 million per year.
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More than the conventional pap test, DOvEEgene is the new genomic uterine pap test that was developed by a team of McGill researchers.
Whereas the conventional pap test screens for cervical cancer by finding abnormal cells under a microscope, the DOvEEgene genomic uterine pap test is developed to screen for both ovarian and endometrial cancers.
The DOvEEgene test is the only test capable of making the distinction between cancer and non-cancer cells in pre- and post-menopausal women.
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Together, we can all help change the future of endometrial and ovarian cancer diagnosis. Thank you for your support!
