Ovarian cancer is one of the most devastating cancers. Of the more than 620 women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in NSW each year, less than half will reach five-years survival.
Recognising a field with a great need for research, Dr Meagher has dedicated her career to improve outcomes and give a greater hope for women with ovarian cancer in NSW and beyond.
“Ovarian cancer is rare, hard to treat, and the prognosis is poor. There’s no screening program, so when it presents it is often late and the options are really limited. It’s such a devastating and aggressive disease, I’ve always felt very motivated to do what I can,” Dr Meagher said.
“When I was submitting my PhD on ovarian cancer, my sister was diagnosed and that really brought it home. Thankfully, it was caught early and treatable with surgery. She’s doing so well.
“All the women that we work with who are survivors of ovarian cancer are such incredibly strong and motivated people. I feel so passionate about working in this line of research.”
In 2025, Dr Meagher received an Early Career Fellowship grant from the Cancer Institute NSW to support her research investigating the link between aspirin and longer ovarian cancer survival.
Uncovering the benefits of aspirin in cancer treatment
Observational studies have shown that women who have taken aspirin after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer have better outcomes. Aspirin is a common medicine used to relieve aches, pains and fevers, reduce inflammation, and as a blood thinner.
Dr Meagher and her team will study large-scale international datasets to explore whether aspirin has an impact on the immune response to the tumour across ovarian cancer subtypes, with a particular focus on clear cell ovarian cancer. These datasets include information on medication use, tumour immune cells, clinical features of the cancer and patient outcomes.
“We know that when there is a good immune response to a tumour, it can help attack the tumour itself and patients can have better outcomes. So that’s the thought here,” she said.
“The aim is to see whether women who took aspirin, compared to those who didn’t, had a different immune cell profile in their tumour.”
A successful research outcome will inform the development of clinical trials that utilise aspirin in combination with other treatment to directly test if it contributes to a better tumour immune response. It is important work due to the limited options available for women with ovarian cancer subtypes globally.
“We need better options for patients because ovarian cancer is so hard to treat,” Dr Meagher said.
"The idea is to try and translate it clinically. There are international collaborators in Asia who are interested in this work because clear cell ovarian cancer is quite prevalent in Asian populations, so that’s another aspect I’m looking to do.”
Supporting ovarian cancer research in NSW
Funding from the Cancer Institute NSW grant, worth $500,740, will support Dr Meagher to build on her research capacity and take her work to international collaborators and audiences.
“The Fellowship sets me up for the next three years, which is fantastic. This enables me to continue my work and make sure that I’m staying in cancer research in NSW,” Dr Meagher said.
“It provides funding support to work with my international collaborators, to access the samples and the data that I need to answer these questions about aspirin and ovarian cancer. Also, to be able to visit them, maintain these collaborations and present my results at international conferences.
“I want to emphasise that this work is a big team effort. Even though this is an individual fellowship in ovarian cancer, we can't do what we do without the large international collaborations. That's really what drives it because ovarian cancer is so rare.”
Dr Meagher was one of 14 researchers awarded a Career Support Grant by the Cancer Institute NSW in 2025, with a total value of more than $8 million. Learn more about how the scheme is supporting exciting medical breakthroughs and improving outcomes for people living with cancer across NSW.
Dr Nicola Meagher is a Research Fellow at The Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney. You can read her full biography at The Daffodil Centre website.