In 2013, the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation provided a $50,000 seed grant to the University of Alabama at Birmingham where Dr. Chip Landen and others had partnered with researchers at John Hopkins University for a study focused on analyzing DNA collected from tampons to detect ovarian cancer.  (Click here to read a news article about this initial study, or click here to access the published scientific findings.) 

Now, using findings from that initial study, as well as additional research performed at Johns Hopkins, a single blood test has been developed that screens for eight common cancer types, including ovarian, and helps identify the location of the cancer.  The test, called CancerSEEK, was utilized on over 1,000 patients who had early-stage cancers (ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreatic, esophageal, colorectal, lung, or breast).  CancerSEEK’s sensitivity, or its success in finding cancer, was 98% for ovarian cancer.  Larger studies are currently underway and more testing is needed, however, researchers envision that the test could eventually cost less than $500 and potentially be administered by primary care providers at the time of other routine blood work.

This is just one example of how the research we fund is helping move forward the field of early detection, and we couldn’t do it without you!