Over the past four decades, death rates for most cancers have declined. Uterine cancer is an exception. Now the fourth most common cancer among women in the United States, it has overtaken ovarian cancer as the leading cause of gynecological cancer deaths. 

Katie Colling, a fourth-year PhD candidate in cancer biology at the University of Iowa, wants to reverse those trends. 

Working in the Thiel Lab, she’s focused on improving hormone therapies for uterine cancer. 

Colling also is the winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, which challenges graduate students at Iowa to present their research in layperson language in three minutes or less. 

Why uterine cancer needs urgent attention

In her 3MT presentation, Colling explained that uterine cancer, when caught early, is often treatable with surgery — typically a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy that removes the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. 

But for women who hope to have children, it’s a heartbreaking option. And for others, underlying health conditions make surgery too risky.

Hormone therapy offers an alternative to surgery. Progestins — synthetic forms of progesterone — target tumor cells by regulating the balance of hormones in the uterus. While most patients respond well at first, the cancer returns in 20% to 40% of cases, sometimes more aggressively.

That reality hits close to home for Colling. Her grandmother was treated for breast cancer and remained in remission for 15 years. But when Colling was in college, the cancer returned with devastating force.

“It had basically metastasized everywhere — in her bones, her brain,” Colling says. “Seeing her navigate the challenges and toxicities of treatment and knowing so many others go through the same thing inspired me to research safer, more effective therapies.”

Searching for answers

Colling’s research focuses on repurposing progestin drugs — commonly used in hormonal contraception formulations such as birth control pills — as targeted treatments for uterine cancer. With many formulations derived from progesterone or testosterone, the challenge is finding the right ones.

In the lab, Colling tests these drugs on cell cultures grown from patients’ tumor tissues. Of the 12 progestins she’s studied, five outperformed standard treatments — and they’ve worked across many patient samples.

“I think it really highlights that there is a lot of potential in repurposing progestins as more effective fertility-sparing treatments for uterine cancer,” Colling says.

PhD student Katie Colling's research focuses on improving hormone therapies for uterine cancer.

The importance of 3MT

Colling says she was drawn to compete in 3MT for two reasons: Her passion for her work and her enjoyment of public speaking. 

“I think a lot of people don’t realize how many women are impacted by uterine cancer and how much of a need there is for more effective treatments.

“I was a speech and theatre kid throughout high school and college, and so 3MT is a way to live that again," she says. says. She says the 3MT competition is helpful in sharing the results of complex research. Your audience won’t always be specialists in the field, she says, and there will be times when you need to communicate in a way anyone can understand.

“When scientists use complex jargon and medical terminology to explain their findings to the public, this can often lead to misunderstanding,” Colling says. “Really important ideas that people need to know and understand are often not communicated adequately.” 

Colling says she was surprised to win both the People’s Choice and overall winner awards.

“It was incredible to hear about everyone’s work,” she says. “I thought it could go to any one of us.”

Colling, who is from Strafford, Missouri, says she chose to pursue a PhD at Iowa because of the important research that takes place on campus and the resources Iowa offered. She also says she is lucky to have Kristi Thiel, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Carver College of Medicine and director of the Thiel Laboratory Group, as a mentor. 

“She challenges me every day and continues to inspire my growth as a scientist. And she's just been an incredible role model for a young scientist like me,” Colling says.

2025 3MT Contest winners

• Overall winner: Katie Colling, Turning Hormones into Hope for Uterine Cancer
• Humanities and Social Sciences People Choice: A H M Mainul Islam, Tracking Bur Oak Blight Across Iowa
• Applied Health and STEM People's Choice: Katie Colling, Turning Hormones into Hope for Uterine Cancer
• Honorable Mention: Erin Wissler Gerdes, Under pressure: Characterizing parental rage and its relationship with anxiety in modern parenthood