About

The MOCOG was officially started in 2013 in a response to a call for proposals to study ovarian cancer survival from the DOD Ovarian Cancer Research Program. MOCOG was formed out of two sister consortia – the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) and the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis (OTTA) consortium. OCAC was established in 2005 and involves more than 70 studies, more than 90,000 combined study participants, and numerous researchers investigating genetic and epidemiological risk factors in ovarian cancer. OTTA was established in 2010 to enable large-scale validation of biological findings made with tumor samples and contains more than 10,000 tumors. Together, these consortia collaborate to better understand ovarian cancer.

From 2013-2016, the structure and overall goals of MOCOG were established. MOCOG chose to specifically focus on long-term survival in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC), the most common type of ovarian cancer. While HGSC has a five year survival rate of less than 50%, around 30 % of patients survive 10 or more years. This difference in survival is likely due to a complex combination of genetic, immunologic, and epidemiologic factors. Understanding why some women survive much longer than others may lead to important gains in treatment and patient care. MOCOG has brought together a team of investigators with expertise in research, clinical management, cohort management and patient advocacy to find answers to these questions. In 2016, using new rounds of funding from the Ovarian Cancer Research Program, the MOCOG established new research goals and projects. Broadly, they aim to understand:

  1. Do long-term survivors of ovarian cancer have a more favorable immunological response to tumors?
  2. Are there differences in genetic and epigenetic tumor characteristics in long-term survivors?
  3. How do diet, exercise, medication and other lifestyle factors contribute to long-term survival? Are there additional personal care characteristics of long-term survivors that may be important?

Additional information on each of these research questions can be found on the research page.