Posted at: 08/28/2009 7:03 PM
By: Mary Taing

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Hope Comes with Grant to Fight Ovarian Cancer

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- There's some promising news for patients with ovarian cancer.
 
The National Cancer Institute has awarded Mayo Clinic an 11.5 million dollar grant for ovarian cancer research.

Mayo Clinic researchers are one step closer to curbing the number of deaths caused by ovarian cancer.

After getting the multi-million dollar grant.

"We're thrilled, there are only 5 ovarian SPORE grants in the United States, and we're now in that elite group," says Dr. Lynn Hartmann, Co-Director Of Mayo Clinic’s Women’s Cancer Center.

SPORE, which is short for "Specialized Program of Research Excellence", will give researchers more resources to develop new drugs, therapies, and also to understand why some ovarian cancers are resistant to treatment.

"If we could understand the mechanisms, how that happens and block them…and then come in with something completely different, we could boost the cure rate," says Dr. Hartmann.

The news is hopeful to ovarian cancer advocates like Mary Johnson.

"This huge grant is very good news for everyone," says Johnson.

Johnson raises money for research by putting on 12 to 24-hour swimming marathon events.

She also works as a spiritual advisor for patients.
 
"When I watch their journeys with this process it's inspirational and it's daunting, and they need advocacy," says Johnson.

This grant money shows advocacy really pays off.

"I think it sends a message that the National Cancer Institute that National Institutes of Health see that ovarian cancer is a big problem," says Dr. Hartmann.

Making the fight against ovarian cancer even stronger.

Statistics show more than 16-thousand women die from the disease, and another 22-thousand are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year.