In November of 2021, our mom, Kathy Hughes was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. She had no symptoms whatsoever.  For over two years, she has fought this battle while remaining steadfast in her faith and relying on God to get her through. She takes every moment possible to witness and share her testimony of her faith to others. During these two years, Kathy has completed many, many rounds of chemotherapy. She has seen her daughter Kelly get married, her grandsons Greyson and Hudson grow, and was able to see her newest grandson Luca be born. Her next goal is to celebrate her 70th birthday! 

As part of her 70th birthday, she is asking for donations to be made in her honor to further ovarian cancer research. Her very own doctor, Dr. Angeles Secord, has been working diligently on a clinical trial for Ovarian Cancer. 

As her daughters, we ask that in lieu of birthday gifts for our mom, that you honor her wishes and make a donation in her honor. It is our prayer that through Dr. Secord's research, a cure will be found so that no one else has to battle this silent disease.

How will your donations be used?

Donations will be directed to the incredible work being accomplished by Dr. Angeles Secord and her team at Duke. Dr. Secord leads ovarian cancer research focused on a clinical trial program, novel biomarkers to direct therapy, and development of a first-in-class therapeutic agent. She continues to explore biomarkers predictive of response to therapeutics with her collaborator, Dr. Andrew Nixon. Trials and studies based on these discoveries have been and continue to be done at Duke.

Additionally, Dr. Secord’s team continues to explore a novel manganese metalloporphyrin compound, BMX-001, with ascorbate (also known as vitamin C). She has been collaborating with Drs. Ines Batinic-Haberle and Ivan Spasojevic who developed BMX-001. Their early preliminary work regarding BMX-001 in two ovarian cancer cell lines was promising. The team expanded  their findings in a panel of seven cell lines and conducted research using animal models. Our findings demonstrated that BMX-001 suppresses ovarian cancer growth when used (i) alone, (ii) when combined with ascorbate and (iii) when combined with ascorbate and paclitaxel. Donations will advance the scientific knowledge or ovarian cancer and help get us closer to new treatment options being developed here at Duke.