Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Ovarian cancer has a very high mortality rate which is mainly due to delays in diagnosis, because early stages of this disease rarely cause detectable symptoms. No effective screening method for ovarian cancer has yet been developed, so it is crucial to understand the mechanisms underlying the initiation and early progression of this disease, by investigating factors that increase the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Hormone replacement therapy after menopause has been considered to increase the risk of ovarian cancer. This project will evaluate the effects of estrogen and progesterone in promoting ovarian cancer progression after menopause, in order to simulate the effect of using hormone replacement therapy after menopause. This will be done using a mouse model of ovarian cancer.