Ovarian Cancer - Getting the Bigger Picture on antibody treatment for ovarian cancer

06/15/21 • 42 min

Ovarian cancer can creep up on you unexpectedly. Maxine had symptoms similar to a pre-existing condition and didn’t know that she had cancer. We talked about how she got her diagnosis, the symptoms she experienced and what had happened since that initial diagnosis.

We also talk to Prof James Spicer who heads up an experimental cancer medicines unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London. We discuss different types of treatment including a novel approach to using antibodies to treat ovarian cancer.

Finally, we talk to Dr Francis Man about how radiolabelling the antibody that Prof Spicer is using, may allow us to better understand how the antibody is working and whether it is going to the parts of the body that we expect.

The symptoms of ovarian cancer can be difficult to detect as Maxine found. Ovacome have a nice easy way to remember what to look out for called BEAT. B is for bloating, E is for a change in eating habits, A is for abdominal pain and T is for a change in toilet habits. (https://www.ovacome.org.uk)

This podcast is supported by a grant from the Public Engagement Fund in the Centre for Medical Engineering at King’s College London.

This podcast is supported by a grant from the Public Engagement Fund in the Centre for Medical Engineering at King’s College London.

Previous Episode

Prostate Cancer - Getting the Bigger Picture on imaging prostate cancer

Clive was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in 2016. He didn’t present with classic symptoms but his PSA levels suggested a problem. We talk to Clive about his experience and how his prostate cancer was treated. We also discuss improvements in diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer – how do we detect if the cancer has returned? What improvements have been made in treating prostate cancer if it returns or has spread to other areas of the body? We talk to one of our consultants, Prof. Cook about how developments in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences have enabled his team to diagnose recurrent prostate cancer and about new radioactive drugs that can be used to treat this cancer. We also talk to one of our scientists, Dr Jennifer Young, about how a new radioactive drug was developed in our department to image prostate cancer.

This podcast is funded by a grant from the Public Engagement Fund in the Centre for Medical Engineering at King’s College London.

Next Episode

Hodgkin's Lymphoma - Getting the Bigger Picture on FDG scans and radiobiology

In the first part of this episode of The Bigger Picture, Maggie talks to Vincent Kearney about his experience of being diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Vincent explains how he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and the treatment that he underwent. He also gives a nice explanation of what it's like having an FDG scan in the PET centre.
In the second part of the podcast, Maggie spoke to Dr Sam Terry, who works in the area of radiobiology. We find out what radiobiology is and what we might learn from Dr Terry's work to improve treatment of cancer using a different class of radioactive drugs that kill cancer cells from the inside and leaves normal tissue unharmed.
There's certainly a lot to think about from both interviews and hopefully messages that we can take from them to improve the quality and impact of our research.
Thanks to the Centre for Medical Engineering at King's College London for the Public Engagement funding for this podcast.