“I love taking care of patients with cancer,” says Mariam AlHilli, MD, MS. “It’s challenging, but it’s also very rewarding to see that we are able to change the patient’s outlook and improve their outcomes through research and innovation at Cleveland Clinic.”
Some cancers are easier to detect than others. Symptoms of one of the most difficult gynecologic cancers are oftentimes dismissed as gastrointestinal issues, like abdominal pain, bloating and constipation. Unfortunately, this means that patients with ovarian cancer are oftentimes diagnosed at an advanced stage where it has already spread outside of the ovaries and to different parts of the body.
The lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is approximately one in 78. Patients with ovarian cancer tend to have sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass), which is one of the risk factors for a worse outcome for a patient’s prognosis. The inflammation cancer creates in the body can cause loss of muscle and affect people’s nutrition. Obesity makes matters even worse.
Mariam AlHilli, MD, MS, is examining data from patients with a recurrence of ovarian cancer and analyzing the factors that cause them to have low muscle mass. By utilizing CT scans, Dr. AlHilli and her team are able to study body composition, specific muscle mass measurements and body fat. They are also collecting tissue samples from patients’ tumors as well as their gut and vaginal microbiome.
She hopes to learn how the biology of the tumors and the composition of the bacteria these patients have differs from patients who do not have sarcopenia. By identifying biological and microbial characteristics that distinguish patients with poor outcomes across body composition, they aim to provide targeted interventions to patients who need them the most.
“Someday, I hope that we will be able to say that our patients with ovarian cancer live longer because they are overall healthier and more active and have an improved sarcopenia or muscle mass index,” says Dr. AlHilli. “We’re very lucky to work at an institution where there are plenty of resources that we can utilize for research to really move the needle and hopefully improve patient outcomes.”