Gynaecological Cancer Research Group

According to the 2023 data in Australia more than 5,900 women a year are diagnosed with a gynaecological malignancy including ovarian, endometrial, cervical and vulval cancers.

Our research aims to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients and focuses on patient-reported outcomes and the supportive care of those affected by gynaecological cancers. We also conduct research in gynaecological cancer genetics, the epidemiology of gynaecological malignancies, and biomarkers to predict relapse in women with high-grade serous ovarian cancer, the most common type of ovarian cancer. We are a recruiting site for clinical trials in gynaecological cancer and lead national and international multicentre randomised trials.

Perth researchers find some ovarian cancer cells appear to tell immune system to stay away. Spatial transcriptomics reveals discrete tumour microenvironments and autocrine loops within ovarian cancer subclones” published in the journal Nature Communications.

A cross-town collaboration involving researchers from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, St John of God Subiaco Hospital, Curtin University, Clinipath, The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Edith Cowan University has found that ovarian tumours alter their local environment by changing the sets of messages they send to cells nearby.

Using an advanced technique known as spatial transcriptomics the team generated cellular maps of ovarian cancer samples from patients in Perth who donated their tumours for research (Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research).

• Professor Paul Cohen
• Sanela Bilic
• Maria Beilin
• Issy Black

Denisenko, E., de Kock, L., Tan, A., Beasley, A. B., Beilin, M., Jones, M. E., Hou, R., Muirí, D. Ó., Bilic, S., Mohan, G. R. K. A., Salfinger, S., Fox, S., Hmon, K., Yeow, Y., Gray, E. S., Cohen, P. A., Yu, Y., & Forrest, A. R. R. Spatial transcriptomics reveals ovarian cancer subclones with distinct tumour microenvironments and autocrine loops within ovarian cancer subclones. Nature Communications 2024, 15(1), Article 2860. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47271-y

Cohen, P. A single arm pilot observational study to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a preoperative very low calorie diet in severely obese patients with endometrial cancer. International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer 2024, 34(A150-A151). Advance online publication.

Hardcastle, S. J., Maxwell-Smith, C., Cavalheri, V., Boyle, T., Román, M. L., Platell, C., Levitt, M., Saunders, C., Sardelic, F., Nightingale, S., McCormick, J., Lynch, C., Cohen, P. A., Bulsara, M., & Hince, D. The promoting physical activity in regional and remote cancer survivors (PPARCS) trial: Physical activity maintenance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 2024, 34(3), e14572. Article e14572. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14572

Kelly, S. M., Quenby, M., Corcoran, T. B., Webb, S., & Cohen, P. A. Variation in prescribing for the prevention of postoperative nausea, vomiting, and pain following abdominal surgery: A retrospective study. Health Science Reports 2024, 6(6), Article e1335. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.1335

Schofield, C., Lopez, P., Cohen, P. A., Taaffe, D. R., Newton, R. U., Galvão, D. A., Jeffery, E., Meniawy, T. M., & Peddle-McIntyre, C. J. Skeletal muscle morphology in patients receiving primary versus interval cytoreductive surgery for advanced high-grade serous ovarian cancer. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer 2023, 33(10), 1587-1594. Article ijgc-2023-004425. https://doi.org/10.1136/ijgc-2023-004425

Cabasag, C. J., Arnold, M., Rutherford, M., Ferlay, J., Bardot, A., Morgan, E., Butler, J., O'Connell, D. L., Nelson, G., Høgdall, C., Schnack, T., Gavin, A., Elwood, M., Hanna, L., Gourley, C., De, P., Saint-Jacques, N., Mørch, L. S., Woods, R. R., ... Soerjomataram, I. Shifting incidence and survival of epithelial ovarian cancer (1995-2014): a SurvMark-2 study. International Journal of Cancer 2023, 152(9), 1763-1777. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.34403

kConFab Investigators, & NBCS Collaborators. FANCM missense variants and breast cancer risk: a casecontrol association study of 75,156 European women. European Journal of Human Genetics 2023, 31(5), 578- 587. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-022-01257-w

Schofield, C., Newton, R. U., Taaffe, D. R., Galvão, D. A., Cohen, P. A., Meniawy, T. M., & Peddle-McIntyre, C. J. Supervised resistance exercise for women with ovarian cancer who have completed first-line treatment: a pragmatic study. Supportive Care in Cancer 2023, 31(5), 304. Article 304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07754-y

NBCS Collaborators. The impact of coding germline variants on contralateral breast cancer risk and survival. American Journal of Human Genetics 2023, 110(3), 475-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2023.02.003

AOCS Group, Kang, E.-Y., Weir, A., Meagher, N. S., Farrington, K., Nelson, G. S., Ghatage, P., Lee, C.-H., Riggan, M. J., Bolithon, A., Popovic, G., Leung, B., Tang, K., Lambie, N., Millstein, J., Alsop, J., Anglesio, M. S., Ataseven, B., Barlow, E., ... Köbel, M. CCNE1 and survival of patients with tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma: An Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium study. Cancer 2023, 129(5), 697-713. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.34582

Hardcastle, S. J., Maxwell-Smith, C., Cavalheri, V., Boyle, T., Román, M. L., Platell, C., Levitt, M., Saunders, C., Sardelic, F., Nightingale, S., McCormick, J., Lynch, C., Cohen, P. A., Bulsara, M., & Hince, D. A randomized controlled trial of Promoting Physical Activity in Regional and Remote Cancer Survivors (PPARCS). Journal of Sport and Health Science 2024, 13(1), 81-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2023.01.003

Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis (OTTA) Consortium, Meagher, N. S., Gorringe, K. L., Wakefield, M. J., Bolithon, A., Pang, C. N. I., Chiu, D. S., Anglesio, M. S., Mallitt, K.-A., Doherty, J. A., Harris, H. R., Schildkraut, J. M., Berchuck, A., Cushing-Haugen, K. L., Chezar, K., Chou, A., Tan, A., Alsop, J., Barlow, E., ... Friedlander, M. L. Gene expression profiling of mucinous ovarian tumors and comparison with upper and lower gastrointestinal tumors identifies markers associated with adverse outcomes. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2022, 28(24), 5383-5395. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1206

Perera, S., Sporik, A., Schofield, P., Cohen, P., Hyde, S., Hegarty, S., Russell, H., Heriot, N., & Zalcberg, J. Patient-determined appropriateness of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OV28 for routine PROMs data collection in the National Gynae-Oncology Registry (NGOR): A thematic analysis of the perspectives and content needs of women with ovarian cancer. Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology 2022, 18, 222-223. 

Boban, S. A., Bulsara, C., Codde, J., Cohen, P. A., & Downs, J. Employing cognitive interviewing to evaluate, improve and validate items for measuring the health-related quality of life of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. BMC Women's Health 2022 , 22(1), Article 391. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-01966-w

Delahunty, R., Craig, S., Creighton, B., Ariyaratne, D., Garsed, D. W., Christie, E., Fereday, S., Andrews, L., Lewis, A., Limb, S., Pandey, A., Hendley, J., Traficante, N., Carvajal, N., Spurdle, A. B., Thompson, B., Parsons, M. T., Beshay, V., Volcheck, M., ... Alsop, K. TRACEBACK: Testing of Historical Tubo-Ovarian Cancer Patients for Hereditary Risk Genes as a Cancer Prevention Strategy in Family Members: Journal of Clinical Oncology. Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022, 40(18), 2036- 2047. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.21.02108

Powell, A., Hodgson, A., Cohen, P., Rabban, J. T., Park, K. J., Glenn McCluggage, W., Gilks, C. B., Singh, N., & Oliva, E. Improved risk prediction in HPV-associated endocervical adenocarcinoma through assessment of binary silva pattern-based classification: international multicenter retrospective study of the international society of gynecological pathologists. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer 2023, 33(Suppl 4). research-repository.uwa.edu.au