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January 12, 2026Q&A: Meet Gabriel Levin, MD, CureLab Oncology’s Director of Oncology
How a gynecologic oncologist views today’s therapies—and the road to validating DNA plasmid approaches.
As Director of Oncology, Dr. Gabriel Levin will help expand CureLab’s clinical collaborations and studies. We asked him about unmet needs in gynecologic malignancies, lessons from immunotherapy, and how he evaluates novel DNA-based treatments.
Q: What drew you to gynecologic oncology—and to CureLab Oncology?
Levin: I wanted a specialty that integrates surgery with longitudinal medical care—treating patients through diagnosis, systemic therapy, and follow-up. Gynecologic oncology does both. I was also compelled by early clinical signals I saw in late-line ovarian cancer, where options are limited. That combination—clinical need plus a mechanism that works through the immune system—made CureLab compelling.
Q: How has treatment changed across the four major cancers you see—endometrial, ovarian, cervical, and vulvar?
Levin: Endometrial cancer incidence is rising, tied to obesity, and we’re seeing more aggressive subtypes. Immunotherapies and targeted agents have expanded options there, as well as in cervical cancer. In ovarian cancer, PARP inhibitors were a major step for biomarker-defined subsets, but many patients still need better options, especially in platinum-resistant disease. Vulvar cancer remains rare with incremental advances.
Q: Where does radiation fit today?
Levin: It’s largely adjunctive in gynecologic cancers—useful as adjuvant therapy in some endometrial cases and for selected recurrences—but not a frontline curative modality for ovarian disease.
Q: Immunotherapy has momentum—but also toxicity. How do you think about risk–benefit?
Levin: Checkpoint inhibitors can trigger system-wide immune activation and serious adverse events. Some patients who benefit most also experience stronger immune-related toxicities. That’s why I’m interested in approaches that mobilize anti-tumor immunity with a more favorable tolerability profile.
Q: What potential do you see in DNA-based immunotherapy like Elenagen?
Levin: Early findings suggest it can direct the immune system against tumors without requiring specific biomarkers and with fewer immune-related adverse events. Notably, we’ve seen signals in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer—an area of high unmet need—particularly in combination with gemcitabine. To be clear, those are late-line patients; the bar is to improve progression-free and overall survival, not promise cures. The path forward is rigorous, multi-site trials to validate and define where it helps most.
Q: What will you focus on first at CureLab Oncology?
Levin: Helping the team recruit clinical sites and engage leading centers and stakeholders, and supporting the process of securing the resources needed to execute high-quality studies. The goal is straightforward: generate the evidence patients and regulators require.
Editor’s note: Dr. Levin is a Montreal-based gynecologic oncologist and CureLab Oncology’s Director of Oncology. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
