In Australia, ovarian cancer is the deadliest reproductive cancer. The average five‑year survival rate sits at around 49%, compared with about 92% for breast cancer, 96% for prostate cancer and 84% for uterine cancer. Put simply, a diagnosis of ovarian cancer means your chances of being alive in five years are almost half those of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer.
Timing plays a big part in this. With no early detection test, around two‑thirds of ovarian cancer cases are found at an advanced stage, when survival drops to around 29%. Many women experience vague symptoms for months – bloating, fatigue, changes in appetite – that can be brushed off as “just hormones”, stress or gut issues. By the time ovarian cancer is seriously considered, the disease has often spread and is much harder to treat. ¹
Currently there are no reliable diagnostic tests commercially available for detecting ovarian cancer before surgery.
Michelle Hill and her team discovered novel glycoprotein biomarkers in diagnosis of ovarian cancer during her tenure at QIMR Berghofer and later on she founded ProSeek Bio focusing on commercially develop the test to reagent kits for the clinical pathology lab. ²
Part of the technology involved using Vector Laboratories Lectins which are highly purified, quality-controlled for glycobiology and other applications. ³
The Vector Laboratory lectin range can be found in our portfolio for research solutions.
We would like to praise and thank Michelle and her team for the incredible work they have done and their determination in developing a diagnostic kit for ovarian cancer to help improve the lives of women all over the world.
Reference:
- International Women’s Day: Balancing the scales for women with ovarian cancer (2026) Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Available at: https://www.ocrf.com.au/international-womens-day-2026-balancing-scales-ovarian-cancer (Accessed: 09 March 2026).
- Dutt M, Hartel G, Richards RS, Shah AK, Mohamed A, Apostolidou S, Gentry-Maharaj A; Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group; Hooper JD, Perrin LC, Menon U, Hill MM. Discovery and validation of serum glycoprotein biomarkers for high grade serous ovarian cancer. Proteomics Clin Appl. 2023 Jul;17(4):e2200114. doi: 10.1002/prca.202200114. Epub 2023 Jun 1. PMID: 37147936; PMCID: PMC7615076.
- Dutt, M., Duong, M.N., Bringans, S., Richards, R.S., Lipscombe, R., Hill, M.M. (2023). Semi-Automated Lectin Magnetic Bead Array (LeMBA) for Translational Serum Glycoprotein Biomarker Discovery and Validation. In: Greening, D.W., Simpson, R.J. (eds) Serum/Plasma Proteomics. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2628. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2978-9_25
