Researchers at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine have identified a potential new approach to treating ovarian cancer that could improve outcomes for patients whose disease is resistant to standard chemotherapy. Ovarian cancer remains difficult to detect early and often presents with non-specific symptoms, leading to late diagnoses. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 20,000 people will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2025, and over half of these cases will involve cancer that has already spread.
Hua-Ying Fan, PhD, professor in the Division of Molecular Medicine at UNM's School of Medicine and a member of the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Cellular and Molecular Oncology research program, led a study published in October in Cancer Research Communications. According to Fan, while initial treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies like carboplatin and cisplatin sees response rates above 80% among those with advanced ovarian cancer, only about half survive beyond 18 months due to recurrence.
“Most ovarian cancers that recur eventually become platinum-resistant,” Fan said. “Treatment options are limited once ovarian cancer becomes resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy.”
Fan began researching ways to address recurrent ovarian cancer in 2017 by examining the Notch signaling pathway—a series of cellular reactions involved in cell survival. She discovered that certain ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR3 cells) rely heavily on this pathway and do not respond well to cisplatin.
Her team investigated whether auranofin—a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for rheumatoid arthritis—could disrupt this pathway. Their research found that combining auranofin with cisplatin killed many OVCAR3 cells in laboratory experiments.
Additional experiments used organoids grown from patient tumor samples as well as animal models. In both cases, higher doses of the combined drugs led to greater death rates among cancer cells or smaller tumors and longer survival times for animals.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Mara Steinkamp, PhD (UNM Department of Pathology), Kimberly Leslie, MD (UNM Department of Internal Medicine), and others at UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“This study reflects broad collaboration across clinical, translational and basic science teams at UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center,” Fan said.
She cautioned that further studies are needed before these findings can be applied clinically: “Because of the variation among ovarian cancer patients, not every patient may benefit from this discovery,” she noted.
Fan hopes future research will confirm benefits for many patients whose treatment options are currently limited by drug resistance. The study was published under the title “Auranofin Synergizes with Cisplatin in Reducing Tumor Burden of NOTCH-Dependent Ovarian Cancer” on October 10, 2025.
The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center is recognized as New Mexico’s official center for cancer care and is designated by the National Cancer Institute. It serves about two-thirds of New Mexico’s cancer patients each year through its network of oncology specialists and partnerships with community health systems statewide. In 2024 alone, it treated more than 15,000 patients during nearly 105,000 outpatient visits; over 2,000 patients participated in clinical trials investigating new treatments.
More information about the center can be found at unmhealth.org/cancer or by calling their clinic at 505-272-4946.
