We sought to explore the possibility that LBH589, a potent inhibitor of class I, II, and IV HDAC enzymes in clinical trial, may act to inhibit tumor cell growth through the degradation of Aurora A. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the administration of LBH589 in concert with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy would manifest synergistic activity in a subset of serous ovarian cancer PDX models. The gene discussed is HDAC9; the disease is ovarian serous adenocarcinoma.