Detection and Outcome Markers, Metastasis,  Glycosylation, Drugs and Treatment Response Prediction, Therapeutic Targets, Ex Vivo 3D Tumoroid Models

Ovarian Cancer Research

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy and the 5th leading cause of cancer death in women. Due to the lack of reliable diagnostic markers, OC is typically diagnosed at late stage, when it has already spread into the peritoneal cavity and complete surgical removal is challenging. Standard clinical management consists of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy; immunotherapeutic approaches remain under clinical evaluation. However, therapy failure and recurrence remain frequent challenges. Personalized medicine where treatment is tailored to the molecular profile of an individual's tumor offers a promising path forward.

Beyond therapy resistance, metastasis is a major obstacle in OC management. The preferred metastatic site is the peritoneal cavity, and in particular the omentum, a fatty tissue layer harbouring diverse cell types including immune cells. Metastatic spread occurs via lymphatic, hematogenous, and passive ascites-driven routes, involving tumor cell shedding and the establishment of secondary lesions through complex and incompletely understood processes.

The Ovarian Cancer Research (OCR) Group is led by Prof. Dr. med. Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz and co-led by PD Dr. sc. nat. Francis Jacob. We are a multidisciplinary and international team dedicated to understanding the molecular basis of ovarian cancer and improving outcomes for patients affected by it. While ovarian cancer remains our primary focus, our research interest extends to other malignancies of the gynecological tract, including endometrial and vulva cancer.

Research Focus

• Identification of predictive biomarkers and molecular signatures (genetic and non-genetic) for early detection and treatment response prediction in ovarian cancer
• Function of protein and lipid glycosylation in ovarian cancer development, progression, metastasis, and therapy response
• Development of experimental assays and ex vivo patient-derived models for functional, personalized treatment prediction
• Identification of molecular strategies to overcome drug resistance in ovarian cancer

Current Research

Our research is fundamentally translational, aimed at guiding individualized treatment decisions in gynecological and in particular ovarian cancer. A central pillar is the Swiss Tumor Profiler (TuPro), a multicenter precision oncology initiative integrating up to nine single-cell and multi-omics technologies to generate deep molecular tumor portraits and inform clinical decision-making. Building directly on this infrastructure, we are currently running OV Precision (NCT06466382), a prospective multicenter Swiss trial applying multi-modal tumor profiling to guide personalized treatment in newly diagnosed advanced stage ovarian cancer.

Alongside these clinical programs, we continuously develop and refine our ex vivo drug sensitivity platform DRUGSENS, which enables functional, single-cell-resolution assessment of treatment response in patient-derived samples. We further address fundamental questions in ovarian cancer biology using state-of-the-art technologies including CRISPR-Cas9 functional genomics to dissect mechanisms of drug resistance. A key interest is the biology of intraperitoneal metastasis, here, we recently resolved a metastatic gradient within the omentum using single-cell transcriptomics, revealing how metastatic colonization disrupts organ homeostasis and identifying the lesser omentum as a pre-metastatic niche. In parallel, we aim to understand the function of protein and lipid glycosylation in the context of cell plasticity and metastasis, pursuing single-cell analyses of glycans and their role in various cancer-relevant processes.

Clinical Research and Clinical Trials: 

An overview of further ongoing clinical projects/trials can be found on the website of the CTU (Departement Klinische Forschung) of the University Hospital Basel https://www.unispital-basel.ch/frauenklinik/forschung-frauenklinik

and on the website of the Swiss GO Trial Group https://swiss-go.ch/de/klinische-studien

Selected Publication (5 publications)

Labrosse KB, Lombardo FC, … Heinzelmann-Schwarz V, Jacob F, Coelho R. Ex vivo drug sensitivity testing predicts treatment outcomes in advanced ovarian cancer. npj Precis Oncol. 2026. PMID: 41651935

Lischetti U, Liang CY, … Heinzelmann-Schwarz V, Jacob F. Ovarian cancer metastasis to the human omentum disrupts organ homeostasis and induces fundamental tissue reprogramming. Nat Commun. 2025. PMID: 41397972

Coelho R, Tozzi A, … Jacob F, Heinzelmann-Schwarz V. Overlapping gene dependencies for PARP inhibitors and carboplatin response identified by functional CRISPR-Cas9 screening in ovarian cancer. Cell Death Dis. 2022. PMID: 36307400

Cumin C, Huang YL, … Heinzelmann-Schwarz V, Jacob F. Glycosphingolipids are mediators of cancer plasticity through independent signaling pathways. Cell Rep. 2022. PMID: 35977490

Irmisch A, Bonilla X, … Tumor Profiler Consortium; … Heinzelmann-Schwarz V, … Jacob F, … Levesque MP. The Tumor Profiler Study: integrated, multi-omic, functional tumor profiling for clinical decision support. Cancer Cell. 2021. PMID: 33482122

Full list of publications can be found here.

Specialties and Resources

We maintain a large biobank (BOB, Basel Ovarian Biobank) with blood, tissue (frozen and FFPE, tissue microarrays), ascites, urine, and primary tumor cells from over 3,500 patients, including matched and longitudinal samples. The biobank also includes breast milk samples from a Swiss and a Mongolian cohort.

Our methodological expertise spans molecular and translational cancer biology, glycobiology, and drug resistance research. We employ a broad range of technologies including CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing (silencing, activation, knock-out, knock-in, and library screens), fluorescence and live-cell imaging, primary cell culture, zebrafish embryo tumor xenografts, ex vivo drug sensitivity testing, and multi-color flow cytometry/FACS. We work in close collaboration with experts in single-cell analyses, spatial omics, and bioinformatics.

Selected Collaborations / Network

• Tumor Profiler (TuPro) Consortium (Universities of Basel and Zurich, ETH Zurich, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Roche Innovation Center Zurich). Interdisciplinary precision oncology initiative integrating multi-omics and single-cell technologies to support individualized clinical decision-making.
• Sotio and Charles University Prague, Czech Republic (Prof. Jitka Fučíková). Functional resolution of immune mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment.
• University of Zurich, Switzerland (Prof. Bernd Bodenmiller). Advancing spatial tumor tissue analysis and prediction of treatment response.
• FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz (Prof. Abdullah Kahraman, Dr. Sina Saxer). DNA and RNA diagnostics; cell culture and nanoparticles.
• ETH Zurich (Dr. Christian Beisel; Dr. Franziska Singer, NEXUS Bioinformatics). Single-cell technologies.
• Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia (Dr. Arun Everest-Dass). Glycoproteomic analysis of key cell surface proteins in metastasis.

Current Grants and Support

• Swiss National Science Foundation — GLYCO-MET. 2026–2030.
• Krebsforschung Schweiz — LUMINA. 2026–2029.
• Swiss National Science Foundation — Molecular profiling and drug prediction in ovarian cancer. 2022–2026.
• OV Precision (Swiss-GO / TPC); supported by the Universities of Basel and Zurich and ETH Zurich. 2025–2027.

• MATAO trial — Maintenance Therapy with Aromatase Inhibitor in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer; randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled phase III trial (Swiss GO Trial Group, Helsana Krankenkasse, Krebsforschung Schweiz, Anticancer Fund/Reliable Cancer Therapies, Stiftung Fürstlicher Kommerzienrat Liechtenstein). 2019–2024.