Our mission
The MiDe Study (MicroRNA Detection Study) is working to develop a diagnostic test for ovarian cancer early detection. Join us in our effort to understand this rare cancer better.
MiDe Study Principal Investigators (PIs) Dr. Dipanjan Chowdhury and Dr. Kevin Elias have discovered a set of novel (new) molecules, called microRNAs (miRNAs), that are found in the blood and may predict ovarian cancer. Currently, there are no screening or early detection tests available for ovarian cancer. In early studies, MiDe’s new test has shown very promising results in the detection of ovarian cancer in otherwise healthy people.
In a proof-of-concept study published in Nature Communications in June 2023, researchers, including from the MiDE Study, shared that they have found a way to detect increased cancer risk associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations without genetic sequencing. This new way of detecting risk could become the basis for a more accessible, affordable, and potentially more comprehensive way to detect an inherited risk of breast or ovarian cancer (learn more about the publication).
In collaboration with Dr. Judy Garber, the MiDe Study opened in the fall of 2019 to determine the accuracy of this test in detecting ovarian cancer in high-risk people.
Our goals
The MiDe Study aims to:
- Better understand ovarian cancer risk for people at high risk (including people with a genetic link to cancer and family history of cancer)
- Improve cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies for people at high risk for ovarian cancer
- Determine the accuracy (validate) a new early ovarian cancer detection test using microRNAs found in a blood sample