Researcher Feature: Alexa Kanbergs, MD, ScM, MS

Alexa Kanbergs, MD, ScM, MS, of University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is the FWC 2023-2024 recipient of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Research Award for Ovarian Cancer: Early Detection.

In this video, Dr. Kanbergs discusses the prioritization of resources towards early detection and prevention to mitigate the risk of ovarian and breast cancers, the impact of her research on future prevention projects and patient outcomes, and the importance of early ovarian cancer symptom recognition and timely testing and diagnosis from healthcare providers.

“While we don’t have great screening tests, we do have opportunities for women who have these mutations to help prevent them from developing ovarian cancer or at least detecting it early, so I think that’s the future for us, and I think there are lots of futures,” Dr. Kanbergs said. “There are incredible advances we are making in how we treat ovarian cancer when it happens, but if we can help prevent or detect it early, we can really save lives. So the work that the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition is doing is just incredible and I’m so grateful to them for investing in treatment and helping prevention and people who have been identified with mutations that put them at increased risk.”