Francesca Duncan, PhD
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Research Program
Cancer-Focused Research
My lab is currently extending research to determine how fibrosis and inflammation in the aging ovarian microenvironment contributes to the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. We are investigating the novel hypothesis that ovarian aging contributes to fallopian tube epithelium-derived ovarian cancer in a two-step mechanism: 1) the pro-inflammatory cytokine signature in aging human follicular fluid released during ovulation damages and transforms adjacent fallopian tube cells, and 2) the collagen-rich and inflammatory aging ovarian microenvironment promotes the honing of fallopian tube-derived ovarian cancer cells to the ovary as the primary site of metastasis. This model reconciles the seemingly opposing observations that ovarian cancer is positively related to the number of ovulations a woman experiences in her reproductive lifespan yet is a cancer that typically occurs in post-menopausal women. this work will provide unprecedented new views into reproductive aging and the etiology of ovarian cancer that will expand avenues of discovery for larger research projects and therapeutic interventions.