Flax Seed To Fight Ovarian Cancer - Buck Hales, Phd researcher with SIU SOM

Cinematography and production by Jason Johnson
Dr. Hales’ is a well-known expert on steroid hormone biology, reproductive physiology and ovarian cancer with over 100 publications, several book chapters and numerous invited reviews. In 2004 Dr. Hales began to examine the role of inflammation and oxidative stress in ovarian cancer which is the current focus of the research. His research focuses on understanding the mechanism of action of natural products in the treatment and prevention of ovarian cancer utilizing the novel animal model, the laying hen for his studies. The laying hen is the only accessible spontaneous model for ovarian cancer that accurately reproduces human ovarian cancer. The studies have investigated the use of flaxseed and its components for therapeutic intervention of ovarian cancer and have shown that flaxseed not only reduces the severity of ovarian cancer, markedly delaying the progression to late stage disease, but also effectively prevents ovarian cancer if added to the diet of laying hens prior to the development of the disease. Clinical trials using flaxseed for treatment of ovarian cancer in women are being initiated. The long term goal of research in the Hales’ lab is to turn ovarian cancer into a disease that women can live with instead of die from.