Catching the Silent Killer Before it Strikes - A Novel Blood Test For All Ovarian Cancers

全世界每年有近30万妇女被诊断出患有卵巢癌。预计未来几年病例数将增加15%。不幸的是，由于非特异性症状和目前对卵巢癌的次优诊断测试，它通常只在疾病的后期阶段被诊断出来，当它已经扩散时。在英国，超过60%的卵巢癌患者面临着这样一个事实，即他们的疾病在诊断时已经扩散，通常被称为“沉默的杀手”。此外，目前还没有卵巢癌筛查工具。目前用于卵巢癌诊断的血液检查是不可靠的，尽管通过其他方式诊断出卵巢癌，但通常无法检测到女性，或者仅在疾病晚期的患者中升高。此外，它经常在良性无关的情况下出现，导致患者不必要的痛苦，以及不必要地利用NHS资源。GenoME Diagnostics正在开发一种简单的血液测试，可以检测最常见和最具侵袭性的卵巢癌（高级浆液性癌）早期阶段存在的DNA的特定修饰。该测试比目前的卵巢癌测试具有上级的灵敏度和可靠性。我们对这个创新项目的女性的目标是满足妇女健康的迫切需求，扩大我们的突破性测试的验证，以早期检测所有卵巢癌亚型。因此，使所有卵巢癌患者能够更早得到治疗，有可能将生存率从20%提高到90%，并提高所有受影响患者的生活质量。在2019年完成乳腺癌研究博士学位后，我成功地通过ICURe计划2019领导了我们的卵巢癌诊断项目，该计划促进了大学研究的早期商业化和市场验证。这导致了随后的InnovateUK融资，公司注册和私募股权融资。我们还被IntertradeIreland评为2020年全爱尔兰最佳创业公司。作为GenoME Diagnostics的首席运营官，我领导公司的日常管理和运营，并执行我们的技术和商业里程碑。我仍然在我的职业生涯早期在商业，我很高兴能磨练我的领导，商业和管理技能，通过这个程序。我热衷于激励其他女性采取必要的措施，在适合她们的时候充分发挥她们的潜力和能力。

Almost 300,000 women a year are diagnosed with ovarian cancer across the world. The number of cases is predicted to rise by 15% in the coming years. Unfortunately, due to non-specific symptoms and the current sub-optimal diagnostic testing for ovarian cancer, it is often only diagnosed in the later stages of disease when it has already spread. In the UK more than 60% of the women with ovarian cancer are faced with the fact that their disease has spread at diagnosis, with it often being dubbed 'The Silent Killer'. Furthermore, there is currently no ovarian cancer screening tool.The current blood test for ovarian cancer diagnosis is unreliable, often not detecting women despite an ovarian cancer diagnosis by other means, or only elevated in those with an advanced state of the disease. Additionally, it is often raised in benign unrelated conditions leading to needless distress to patients, and unnecessary utilisation of NHS resources. GenoME Diagnostics is developing a simple blood test which detects specific modifications of DNA present in the early stages of the most common and aggressive form of ovarian cancer (High-Grade Serous Carcinoma). This test exhibits superior sensitivity and reliability over the current ovarian cancer test. Our aim for this Women in Innovation project is to meet a dire unmet need in women's health, to expand validation of our groundbreaking test to the early detection of all ovarian cancer subtypes. Thus enabling all women with ovarian cancer to be treated earlier, potentially improving survival outcomes from 20% to 90 %, and quality of life for all those affected.Having completed my PhD in Breast Cancer Research in 2019, I successfully lead our ovarian cancer diagnostic project through the ICURe programme 2019, which facilitates the early-stage commercialisation and market validation of University Research. This led to subsequent InnovateUK funding, incorporation of the company and private equity funding. We were also crowned the All-Ireland Best New Start company in 2020 by IntertradeIreland. As Chief Operating Officer of GenoME Diagnostics, I lead the day-to-day management and operations of the company and the execution of our technical and commercial milestones. I am still early in my career in business, and I am excited to hone my leadership, commercial, and management skills through this programme. I am passionate in inspiring other women to take the steps needed to realise their full potential and capabilities, at the time that is right for them.