Live a little.
Like the swallow, Diane always came home. We're helping more women come home from ovarian cancer, and stay home with the people they love.
In memory of Diane Trounson-Chaiken, we're working with Fox Chase Cancer Center on a five-year mission to prevent ovarian cancer, find it earlier and treat it better.
Every woman deserves the chance to live a little.
To grow old alongside the people she loves. To be there for the moments that make a life.
- Dance at her sons' weddings
- Hold her grandbabies
- Celebrate one more birthday
- Go shopping with her girls
- Laugh until it hurts
- Be someone's trusted best friend
Why ovarian cancer, and why now
There is still no reliable screening test, so most women are diagnosed after the cancer has spread. New science is changing what's possible, starting with where the disease begins.
Sources: American Cancer Society 2026 projections; Fox Chase Cancer Center; JAMA Network Open (British Columbia cohort, Feb 2026).
Four ways we're changing the odds
We start from one belief: the best cure for ovarian cancer is to prevent it, or catch it before it spreads.
Prevent it before it starts. Find it earlier, when it's most curable. Treat it with therapies matched to each woman's cancer. Speed up the trials that bring new treatments to patients.
In the news
Diane's story, and the science behind this mission, are reaching more women every day.
Raising awareness, spearheading research on ovarian cancer
Diane's story and the fight against ovarian cancer at Fox Chase.
Watch the story Her Health Compass podcastDetecting the Often Undetectable
Diane and Warren, in their own words.
Listen to the episode The New York TimesMost "ovarian cancer" isn't. And that fact can save lives.
Why most cases begin in the fallopian tubes, and how removing them can prevent them.
Read the article Good Morning AmericaWoman whose mom died from ovarian cancer undergoes procedure that may cut risk by 80%
A daughter's choice to have her fallopian tubes removed, and a Johns Hopkins oncologist on how it could save lives.
Watch the videoLatest research
We track new findings in ovarian cancer prevention, detection and treatment so you can follow the progress.
Diane Leslie Trounson-Chaiken
Wife, mother, best friend and the person who reminded everyone around her to live a little. Like the swallow she loved, she always came home.
The woman behind the motto
Diane believed in embracing life and finding joy in every day. When someone was holding back, working too hard or waiting for the right moment, she had a simple answer: live a little.
It started as something she said to her son Ben, usually when he didn't want to hear it. Over the years it became his motto, and then the whole family's. Near the end of her life she wrote to him that it was what she wished for him and asked of him: that he always continue to live a little.
Diane was born and raised in Long Island City, a true New Yorker who did all of her schooling in the city: a bachelor's in psychology and education from Barnard College, then a master's and a PsyD in child clinical psychology from NYU. She spent many years in early intervention, working with developmentally delayed preschoolers and their families, and taught psychology to graduate students, most notably at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
She met Warren in Boston in the summer of 1989, at the Black Rose, and their first real date came that New Year's Eve. They married in 1993 and settled in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, where they raised two sons, Ben and Josh, and built lifelong friendships. Diane was known for her legendary packing lists, for family adventures across the United States, Europe and Australia, and for an annual holiday cookie party that ran from the time the boys were little to her very last Christmas. Whether traveling the world or sitting on the beach at the Jersey shore, for Diane it was always about being together.
She lived it to the end. Days before a friend's wedding, Diane was admitted to Fox Chase. She told her doctors and nurses she would be at that wedding: they could discharge her, or she would leave. They discharged her. She went, and she had an amazing night.
Three things we loved about her
Grace with every challenge
Diane wanted her nails perfect and smudged them almost immediately, most famously before her rehearsal dinner, when she rode back into Manhattan with her hands out the taxi window to dry them. Technology was her sworn enemy, and it was always the device's fault. But with the big challenges she was remarkable. From her first day of treatment she kept a notebook of everything she could learn, and she rarely complained.
Devotion to family
When Ben was born, Diane and Warren wanted to welcome him in both the Episcopal and Jewish traditions. The local rabbi said he wouldn't take part unless they chose one. Diane's answer: "This is simply not going to happen." (We've cleaned up the actual quote. Diane was a passionate curser.) So she created "Family Fun Time Learning About God," Sundays when first Ben and later Josh learned the traditions of both faiths. At 40 she stepped back from her career to raise the boys full time. For Diane it was an easy decision, because it was the right one for her family.
Generosity of spirit
She was the planner, the listener, the sounding board and everyone's mom. She cheered at Little League games, School of Rock concerts, soccer matches and cross-country meets, and stayed up late with a house full of teenagers. Whenever one of them needed advice, someone to listen, or a place to stay while they figured things out, Diane was there. Since her passing, so many parents and kids have reached out to share how she helped them.
Same friends, same pose, decades apart.
Living a little
Dancing, cheering, traveling and always with the people she loved.
Hear Diane's story
Diane shared her journey so other women might catch this disease sooner. Listen to her in her own words, and watch how her family is carrying her work forward.
Detecting the Often Undetectable
On Her Health Compass, Diane and Warren, joined by Sue Weldon of Unite for HER, talk about ovarian cancer, finding support, cherishing family and making change through philanthropy.
Listen to the episode 6abc Philadelphia · September 2026Raising awareness, spearheading research on ovarian cancer
Warren shares Diane's story on 6abc's Moves in Medicine, alongside Dr. Angela Jain of Fox Chase and Sue Weldon of Unite for HER.
Watch the storyHer fight, and what it taught us
Diane's experience with ovarian cancer showed our family how much is still missing: no effective screening, a diagnosis that too often comes late, and too few treatment options.
In the spring of 2023, Diane just wasn't feeling right. A scan led to a diagnosis of stage 3 clear cell ovarian cancer, a subtype found in about one in ten patients. She began treatment at Fox Chase right away, and surgery and chemotherapy put her into remission. Then the cancer came back.
Through Unite for HER, she found a support group of about ten women who traded what was working, what wasn't and how they got through their days. They helped Diane, and she helped them. She was there for others to the end.
Even when there were no more treatment options, she kept living her life. Her final wish was a full week together with Warren and the boys in the Bahamas, and she got it.
As Warren puts it: "She wanted to live her life and she wasn't going to let cancer get in the way of that."
Her experience inspired a larger vision: a future where fewer women and families face the same diagnosis, and the same loss.
Signs and songs
Diane promised her sons she would find ways to let them know she was near: butterflies, birds, feathers, coins, leaves, clouds, a familiar scent, a vivid dream, a meaningful song. For our family, the swallow is one of those signs.
These were the songs that meant the most to her at the end.
- Into the MysticVan Morrison
A spiritual journey: finding your place in the universe, peace and a way through life's transitions.
- Days Like ThisVan Morrison
A reminder that peaceful, easy, joyful days come too, and that they're the ones to cherish.
- Christmas LightsColdplay
For the family's love of Christmas, and the lights that keep shining after she's gone, the way her love does.
- Be As You AreMike Posner
Words from her to her sons, as their mother.
- Beautiful DayMike Posner
Her reminder to embrace both the joy and the pain, because every day alive is a beautiful one.
I love you to the moon and back.
Diane's last words to Ben and Josh in her letters, and Warren's last words to Diane.
Diane was always leaving messages for the family on the chalkboard. This was her last, and we've kept it just as she left it.
The swallow always comes home
On a trip to Portugal, where the swallow is a beloved national symbol, Diane learned what the little bird means there. Every spring, swallows fly thousands of miles to return to the same homes, the same eaves, often the same nests. However far they travel, they come home.
That was simply what Diane wanted: to come home to her family.
The swallow became her symbol, and now it's ours. Every part of this work is about the same thing: helping women come home from ovarian cancer, and stay home with the people they love.
A safe return
Sailors once tattooed swallows as a promise to make it home from sea, because the birds always find their way back.
Hope and renewal
Swallows leave in the cold months and reappear in spring, a sign that brighter days are coming.
A blessing on the home
Across Europe and Asia, swallows nesting at a house are said to bring it luck, peace and protection.
A permanent legacy
The Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service at Fox Chase Cancer Center is permanently named in her honor, turning one family's loss into hope for all women, so more of them can come home.
Stay close to Diane's mission
Get a monthly update on ovarian cancer research and our progress at Fox Chase.
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Our mission
Turn ovarian cancer from a lethal disease into one that is preventable and treatable, through a five-year effort anchored at Fox Chase Cancer Center and shared with leading institutions.
We measure it the way Diane would have: by how many women come home to their families, and stay home.
Where we're focused
Prevent it before it starts
Most ovarian cancers begin in the fallopian tubes. Removing the tubes during another pelvic surgery (salpingectomy) is safe and minimally invasive, yet few health systems offer it routinely. Fox Chase will build that model and share it nationally.
Find it earlier
Researchers are searching the "dark genome," DNA long overlooked, for hidden signals that flag women at highest risk years before symptoms, so doctors can step in early.
Treat each woman's cancer
No two cancers are alike. Teams are finding new drug targets and matching treatments to each patient's disease, to cut side effects and overcome resistance.
Get new therapies to patients faster
Personalized cancer vaccines and "off-the-shelf" immune cell therapies are moving toward clinical trials, giving women new options when standard treatment falls short.
The five-year plan
Funding follows milestones. Programs that deliver get more; programs that stall are redirected.
- Year 1Launch
- Salpingectomy workflow implemented at Fox Chase
- Dark genome analysis begins in high-risk families
- New drug target discovery and neoantigen vaccine pipeline established
- Early testing of engineered γδ T cell therapies
- Year 2Expand
- Salpingectomy extended across Temple Health
- Computer-aided drug design and preclinical antibody testing
- Research to prepare the first trials for FDA review
- Year 3Validate
- Risk markers from the dark genome validated
- Promising drug candidates optimized
- Cell therapy manufacturing capacity built
- Years 4–5Bring it to patients
- Salpingectomy model extended nationwide
- Personalized neoantigen vaccine trial
- γδ CAR-T cell therapy trial
- A collaborative model other centers can replicate
How we'll know it's working
We measure ourselves by one question: what is different for a woman at risk of ovarian cancer, or living with it, because this work exists?
More cancers prevented
More cancers found earlier
Better treatments, developed faster
More women living longer
Women living better during and after treatment
A model that speeds progress nationally
A Diane Trounson-Chaiken Executive Board, with Fox Chase leadership, independent scientists, patient and family voices, and permanent Chaiken family representation, reviews progress, outcomes and funding.
Leadership
The service is led by two Fox Chase chiefs, one in surgery and one in medical oncology, working side by side.
James Stuart Ferriss, MD, FACOG, FACS
Chief, Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service (Surgery)
A gynecologic cancer surgeon known for minimally invasive and robotic surgery that protects quality of life and shortens recovery. He came to Fox Chase from Johns Hopkins, where he directed the gynecologic oncology fellowship.
Full profile at Fox Chase
Angela Jain, MD
Chief, Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service (Medical Oncology)
Chief of Gynecologic Medical Oncology at Fox Chase and a member of the national panel that writes the NCCN ovarian cancer treatment guidelines. She has been named a Philadelphia Magazine Top Doctor every year since 2023.
Full profile at Fox ChasePartners in the work
No single institution can solve ovarian cancer. We fund the best science wherever it is.
- Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple HealthHome of the Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service
- Temple UniversityFels Cancer Institute, College of Public Health, School of Pharmacy, College of Engineering
- University of PennsylvaniaRonny Drapkin, MD, PhD, expert in the lesions where ovarian cancer begins
- The Wistar InstituteMaureen Murphy, PhD (p53) and David Weiner, PhD (neoantigen vaccines)
- Duke Cancer InstituteJosé Conejo-Garcia, MD, PhD, γδ T cell therapy
- Patients and familiesWomen with ovarian cancer and the people who love them, everywhere
Ovarian cancer
What it is, why it has been so hard to catch, who is at risk and what is finally changing. Then, the latest research.
By the numbers
Sources: American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2026; Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.
What it is
"Ovarian cancer" is really a family of different cancers, and many of them don't start in the ovaries at all.
About 9 in 10 are epithelial cancers, which begin in the cells lining the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the abdomen. The most common and most aggressive type, high-grade serous cancer, is now thought to start at the end of the fallopian tube and spread to the ovary. That discovery changed how doctors think about prevention.
The main types
- High-grade serousThe most common and the deadliest. Most begin in the fallopian tubes.
- EndometrioidOften found earlier, and sometimes linked to endometriosis.
- Clear cellLess common and often hard to treat with standard chemotherapy. This is the type Diane had.
- Low-grade serous and mucinousRarer, slower-growing types that behave differently from high-grade cancers.
- Non-epithelialAbout 1 in 10, including germ cell and stromal tumors, which are more common in younger women.
Why it has been so hard to catch
For decades, ovarian cancer was called the "silent killer." Its symptoms are real but easy to mistake for everyday problems, and there has never been a reliable screening test.
- The long silence
Most women are diagnosed after the cancer has spread. A Pap test checks for cervical cancer, not ovarian cancer, and no routine test has been proven to find it in time.
- The search for a screening test
Large trials tested a blood test (CA-125) and ultrasound. The biggest, in the UK, followed more than 200,000 women for over 16 years. Screening found some cancers earlier but did not reduce deaths, so it is not recommended for women at average risk.
- A new understanding
In the 2000s, researchers discovered that most high-grade serous cancers begin in the fallopian tubes, not the ovaries. For the first time, there was a clear target for prevention.
- 2010: prevention begins
British Columbia became the first place in the world to encourage removing the fallopian tubes, while keeping the ovaries, during surgeries women were already having. Results there have shown a large drop in the most common type of ovarian cancer.
- Today
Ovarian cancer death rates have fallen by about 45% since the 1970s, thanks to better treatment and fewer cases. That progress is real, and it's why a five-year push to prevent it, find it earlier and treat it better is within reach.
Who is at risk
Raises risk
- Age. About half of women diagnosed are 63 or older.
- Inherited gene changes. Women with a BRCA1 change have roughly a 39–58% lifetime risk, and those with BRCA2 about 13–29%, compared with about 1% for most women. Lynch syndrome also raises risk.
- Family history of ovarian, breast or colorectal cancer, or a personal history of breast cancer.
- Other factors include endometriosis, never having given birth, hormone therapy after menopause, excess weight and smoking.
Lowers risk
- Birth control pills. Five or more years of use is linked to about half the risk.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- Removing the fallopian tubes during another planned surgery, such as a hysterectomy, or instead of having the tubes tied.
Most women who develop ovarian cancer have no family history of it. That's why every woman should know the signs.
What you can do now
Finding a clinical trial
Clinical trials are how new treatments reach patients. Many women with ovarian cancer are good candidates, both at diagnosis and if the cancer comes back. Ask your oncologist whether a trial is right for you.
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Search open trials at Fox Chase, or call the Office of Clinical Research to talk about eligibility.
Search Fox Chase trialsNational Cancer Institute
Browse ovarian cancer trials nationwide, or call for free, one-on-one help finding a trial.
See NCI's trial listClinicalTrials.gov
The national database of studies, filtered to ovarian cancer trials that are recruiting now.
Search recruiting trialsTrusted resources
- American Cancer Society
- National Cancer Institute
- Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
- Fox Chase Cancer Center
This page shares general information and is not medical advice. Talk with your doctor about your own health.
Latest research
Recent developments in ovarian cancer prevention, detection and treatment, gathered from news coverage and medical journals.
News summaries are for general information and link to the original sources. They are not medical advice.
Get this research in your inbox
Once a month, the most important ovarian cancer research explained in plain English, plus news from Fox Chase.
One email a month. We never share your email, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Help & support
Whether you're worried about your risk, newly diagnosed, caring for someone you love or grieving, you don't have to figure it out alone. These are the places we would point a friend to.
Apart from Fox Chase Cancer Center, these are independent organizations, not affiliated with our family or the fund.
If you're worried about your risk
A strong family history of ovarian, breast, colon or uterine cancer, or a known gene change like BRCA, is worth a conversation with a genetics expert.
Fox Chase Risk Assessment Program
Genetic counseling and testing, plus a dedicated high-risk breast and ovarian clinic, for people with a strong family history or a known gene mutation.Appointments: 877-627-9684
Visit the programFORCE
The national nonprofit for people with BRCA and other inherited cancer risks. A helpline, peer matching with someone who has been there, and a tool to find genetic counselors.Helpline: 866-288-7475
Visit FORCESharsheret
Support for women and families facing ovarian or breast cancer or a high genetic risk, including free ovarian cancer resource kits. Rooted in the Jewish community, where BRCA mutations are more common, and open to everyone.
Visit SharsheretIf you've just been diagnosed
Ask to be seen by a gynecologic oncologist, a surgeon who specializes in these cancers. It makes a real difference.
Fox Chase Cancer Center
A National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and home of the Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service.Appointments: 888-369-2427
Visit Fox ChaseOvarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA)
Free support for patients and caregivers: Woman to Woman peer mentors, virtual groups led by oncology social workers, one-on-one counseling, and help finding trials and specialists.Patient Support Line: 212-268-1002
See OCRA's supportClinical trials
How to find a trial at Fox Chase or anywhere in the country. Ask your oncologist whether one is right for you.
Finding a clinical trialSupport for her and her family
Cancer happens to a whole family. These programs care for the patient and the people around her, at no cost.
Unite for HER
Free wellness programs for people with breast or ovarian cancer: integrative therapies, six-week virtual workshops, nutrition resources and a video library. Based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and serving patients nationwide.
Visit Unite for HERCancer Support Community Greater Philadelphia
Free support groups, including ovarian and gynecologic cancer groups, a friends and family group, and programs for kids and teens. In Philadelphia and at Gilda's Club in Warminster.215-879-7733
See their programsPractical help
Insurance, work, bills and paperwork can be as hard as treatment. Help is available.
CancerCare
Free counseling with oncology social workers, support groups, and limited financial help with treatment costs and co-pays.HOPELINE: 800-813-4673
Visit CancerCareTriage Cancer
Free, clear guidance on health insurance, work and time off, disability, finances and estate planning after a diagnosis.
Visit Triage CancerFor families after a loss
We know how much a loss like this changes a family. Grief support is part of care, too.
Cancer Support Community Greater Philadelphia
A bereavement group for anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer, and groups where children and teens learn to cope.
See bereavement supportThe Dougy Center
Free grief toolkits for children, teens, young adults and parents, and a directory of grief support groups near you.
Visit The Dougy CenterThese are independent organizations. Apart from Fox Chase Cancer Center, they are not affiliated with the Diane Chaiken Memorial Fund or the Chaiken family, and listing them is not an endorsement of any medical advice they give. We share them because women and families have found them helpful. This page is not medical advice; talk with your doctor about your own health. Know an organization we should add? Tell us.
You're in. Thank you.
Your subscription to Live a Little is confirmed. Diane's motto was simple: live a little. Thank you for being part of her mission to make ovarian cancer preventable and treatable.
With gratitude, Warren, Ben and Josh Chaiken
What to expect
One email a month, from info@dianechaiken.org. Add it to your contacts so it doesn't land in spam.
The month's key research
The most important ovarian cancer news, explained in plain English, with an honest read on how strong the evidence is.
News from Fox Chase
Progress on prevention, early detection and new treatments, from the team leading Diane's mission.
One thing you can do
A practical tip to share with the women in your life. We never share your email, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Three places to start
The Founders Circle
Every movement starts with a few people willing to go first. The Founders Circle is the group of leadership donors who launch Diane's mission in its first year, and help shape what it becomes.
Founding membership is open through December 31, 2027.
Or email us at info@dianechaiken.org
Why the first year matters
First-year gifts are the hardest to raise and the most important.
They bring the team together, start the first studies and show larger funders that this work is real and moving. Every gift that follows builds on what the founders make possible.
Diane never waited for the right moment. Founders don't either.
What your gift launches
Prevent it
before it starts, by acting on what we now know about where most ovarian cancers begin.
Find it
earlier, when it's most curable.
Treat it
with therapies matched to each woman's cancer.
Speed up
the trials that bring new treatments to patients.
As a founder
Your name, permanently
Founders are listed on this site as the people who started it all, or remain anonymous if you prefer.
A front-row view
A yearly progress update from the Fox Chase team leading the work, so you can see exactly what your gift set in motion.
A seat at the table
An invitation to an annual founders' gathering with the family, the researchers and fellow founders.
How to join
Founding gifts can be made all at once or pledged over up to five years, whichever works best for you. Gifts in memory of someone you love are welcome.
The founding window closes December 31, 2027.
Founder
$25,000
or $5,000 a year for five years
Leadership Founder
$100,000
or $20,000 a year for five years
Visionary Founder
$250,000+
or $50,000 or more a year for five years
Every founder, at every level, is recognized permanently as one of the people who started it all.
Ways to give
- A single giftGive the full amount at once, by credit card, check or wire.
- A five-year pledgeSpread your gift over up to five years. Fox Chase sets up the pledge schedule with you.
- Gifts of stockGive appreciated securities, which may offer tax advantages. Talk with your advisor.
- A blended giftCombine a gift today, or a five-year pledge, with a future gift through your estate plan.
Fox Chase's development team handles every option and can answer any questions. Reach us at info@dianechaiken.org and we'll connect you.
Or email us at info@dianechaiken.org
Where does my gift go?
To the Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health, to fund this ovarian cancer work.
Is my gift tax-deductible?
Gifts are made to Fox Chase Cancer Center. Please check with your tax advisor about your own situation.
Can I give anonymously?
Yes. Just let us know, and your name will not appear on the site.
The swallow always comes home. Founders help make sure more women do too.
Help bring women home
Diane's swallow always came home. Every gift to the Diane Trounson-Chaiken Gynecologic Oncology Service helps another woman do the same, by preventing, detecting and treating ovarian cancer at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
If the button doesn't open, go to Fox Chase's secure donation form for Diane's fund.
Living a little
Moments like these are what every gift protects: more birthdays, more trips, more time together at home.
Other ways to help
Join the Founders Circle
Leadership donors who launch this work in its first year and help shape its direction.
Learn about the Founders CircleGive in memory of someone you love
Honor a mother, sister, wife or friend. Tribute gifts carry their name forward alongside Diane's.
Make a tribute giftShare Diane's story
Awareness saves lives. Send the swallow's story to the women in your life.
Know the signs
Ovarian cancer symptoms are easy to dismiss. If any of these are new and last more than two weeks, talk to your doctor.
Having a hysterectomy, tubal surgery or another pelvic procedure? Ask your surgeon whether removing your fallopian tubes is right for you. If ovarian or breast cancer runs in your family, ask about genetic counseling.
Contact us
Questions about Diane's fund, a leadership gift, a partnership or an event? We'd love to hear from you.