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Gynecologic Cancers

Risk of Serous/Serous-like Endometrial Carcinoma After RRSO in Women With BRCA1 Mutation

In a prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Shu et al found that risk for serous/serous-like endometrial carcinoma appeared to be increased after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) without hysterectomy in women harboring the BRCA1 mutation. The overall risk of uterine cancer...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expect Questions About the FDA Discouraging Use of Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests

The release of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety Communication “alerting women about the risks associated with the use of tests being marketed as ovarian cancer screening tests”1 and recommending against using these tests comes not as a result of startling new studies, but from an...

Gynecologic Cancers
Issues in Oncology

The FDA Urges Physicians and Patients to Forgo Ovarian Cancer Screening Tests

In a Safety Communication directed at women and physicians, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted women “about the risks associated with the use of tests being marketed as ovarian cancer screening tests” and recommended “against using currently offered tests to screen for ovarian...

Gynecologic Cancers

An Ovarian Cancer Expert’s Guide Offers Insight, Wisdom, and Hope

There have been numerous books explicating the information a physician or patient needs to know about our current clinical state in the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer. Many of them are good, but rare is a well-written book in the cancer genre that offers solid scientific hope exceeding ...

Gynecologic Cancers

An Oncologist Battles a Preventable Epidemic: Cancer of the Cervix

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates—perhaps more than any other chronic disease—shine a grim spotlight on global disparities of care. It is one of the most preventable of human malignancies, yet it is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women around the world. It kills 260,000 women...

Gynecologic Cancers

Study Shows Women Who Received Cancer Screening Invitation Letters Are More Likely to Have a Pap Test

Receiving an invitation to undergo screening for cervical cancer is associated with a greater likelihood of getting screened, according to a study published by Tavasoli et al in Preventive Medicine.1 The study explored the impact of invitation and reminder letters on cervical cancer screening...

Gynecologic Cancers

Adding Pertuzumab to Chemotherapy in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

According to the European phase III PENELOPE trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christian Kurzeder, MD, of Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Essen, Germany, et al found that adding pertuzumab (Perjeta) to investigator’s choice chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival in women...

Gynecologic Cancers
Lymphoma

I’m the Luckiest Person in the World

July 2009 was the start of the worst 5-year period of my life, and I’m just grateful I am still here to tell you about it. I was preparing for brain surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma on the right side of my brain when I noticed a lump on my left thigh. Thinking I had pulled a muscle while...

Gynecologic Cancers

FDA Approves First HPV Test for Use With SurePath Preservative Fluid

On July 7, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Roche cobas HPV Test as the first test for human papillomavirus (HPV) that can be used with cervical cells obtained for a Papanicolau (Pap) test and collected in SurePath Preservative Fluid. The FDA approves HPV tests to be...

Gynecologic Cancers

Benefit Strongly Suggested With Hormonal Maintenance in Low-Grade Serous Carcinoma

In patients with low-grade serous carcinoma, maintenance hormonal therapy reduced the risk of recurrence by 77%, compared with surveillance, in a retrospective cohort from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study was reported by David Marc Gershenson, MD, at the 2016 ASCO...

Gynecologic Cancers

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy May Render Advanced Ovarian Cancers Responsive to Immunotherapy

Although most patients with advanced ovarian cancer initially respond to platinum-based chemotherapy, they usually relapse. According to a study by Frances R. Balkwill, PhD, Professor of Cancer Biology at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, and colleagues...

Gynecologic Cancers

Cervical Cancer Prevention Badly Needed in India

With the advent of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test and population-based screening, along with the development of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, cervical cancer has become a largely preventable disease for many. However, in India, cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality. To...

Gynecologic Cancers

In the Neoadjuvant Era, Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Is of Benefit in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

The role of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer has been debated for a long time. According to a new study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, a combination of IP and intravenous (IV) chemotherapy appears more effective than IV chemotherapy alone in...

Gynecologic Cancers

Ronald David Alvarez, MD, Named Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Ronald David Alvarez, MD, Ellen Gregg Shook Culverhouse Chair in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Vice Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has been named Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt...

breast cancer
gynecologic cancers

Lisa A. Carey, MD, and Tuya Pal, MD, on BRCA Carriers: The Disparities in Management

Lisa A. Carey, MD, of the University of North Carolina, and Tuya Pal, MD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, discuss the racial disparities in cancer risk management among BRCA carriers across a diverse sample of young black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white breast cancer survivors (Abstract LBA1504).

gynecologic cancers

Jonathan A. Ledermann, MD, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, on Olaparib Maintenance Monotherapy for Ovarian Cancer

Jonathan A. Ledermann, MD, of Cancer Research UK and University College London Cancer Trials Centre, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss findings on overall survival in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer receiving olaparib maintenance monotherapy (Abstract 5501).

gynecologic cancers

Helen MacKay, MD, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, on Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Results From the OV21-PETROC Trial

Helen MacKay, MD, of the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss findings from this phase II study of intraperitoneal vs intravenous chemotherapy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and optimal debulking surgery in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (Abstract LBA5503).

gynecologic cancers

Eric Roeland, MD, and Linda Van Le, MD, on Gynecologic Cancers: Managing Menopausal Symptoms in Survivors

Eric Roeland, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, and Linda Van Le, MD, of the University of North Carolina discuss ways to manage symptoms that affect up to 80% of postmenopausal women, diminishing their quality of life.

gynecologic cancers

Helen MacKay, MD, on Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Results From the OV21/PETROC Trial

Helen MacKay, MD, of the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, discusses findings from this phase II study of intraperitoneal vs intravenous chemotherapy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and optimal debulking surgery in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (Abstract LBA5503).

Gynecologic Cancers

The 10-Year Club

The following essay by Maurie Markman, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. What’s...

Gynecologic Cancers
Multiple Myeloma
Skin Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer
Lung Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Breast Cancer
Survivorship

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®): 2016 Guidelines

In 1996, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN®) published its first set of Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology® (NCCN Guidelines®), covering eight tumor types. The NCCN Guidelines® are now published for more than 60 tumor types and topics. Some of the key updates for 2016 were...

Gynecologic Cancers
Issues in Oncology

Breaking Down Dogma With the Outgoing President of SGO

At the 2016 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, The ASCO Post sat down with the SGO’s outgoing President, Robert L. Coleman, MD, and discussed the revolutionary potential of blood biomarkers, why enhanced recovery after surgery protocols is a significant...

Gynecologic Cancers

Roundup of Ovarian Cancer Abstracts From 2016 SGO Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer

At the 2016 Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SOG’s) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, Thomas J. Herzog, MD, Clinical Director, University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UC College of Medicine, provided commentary on several noteworthy ovarian...

Gynecologic Cancers

Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy in Question in Ovarian Cancers

A phase III trial of bevacizumab (Avastin) with intravenous vs intraperitoneal chemotherapy showed no improvement in progression-free survival for first-line treatment of patients with optimally surgically resected stage II and III ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer.1 When compared with...

Gynecologic Cancers

High-Accuracy Metabolomic Detection of Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer

As reported in Scientific Reports, Gaul and colleagues used high-performance mass spectrometry to interrogate the serum metabolome of patients with early-stage ovarian cancer and healthy controls. They were able to define a linear support vector machine model of 16 metabolites that identified...

Gynecologic Cancers

Liquid Biopsies Predict Treatment Response and Survival in Gynecologic Cancers

A new study has demonstrated for the first time that personalized circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) biomarkers in gynecologic cancers can detect the presence of residual tumor earlier than currently used serum and imaging studies.1,2 According to the data, undetectable levels of ctDNA at the completion ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Study Supports Initial Attempt at Debulking Surgery in Stage IIIC Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, and Peritoneal Carcinoma

In a study exploring the effect of primary debulking surgery in women with bulky stage IIIC ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers, cytoreduction to no gross residual disease was associated with the best survival outcomes.1 Cytoreduction to 1 to 10 mm of residual disease was also...

Gynecologic Cancers

Genetic Testing in Women With Ovarian Cancer Helps to Determine Prognosis

A new study suggests that homologous recombination deficiency may have significant prognostic implications for patients with ovarian cancer, highlighting the importance of genetic testing in this population.1 According to the data, patients with ovarian cancer who have mutations in genes affecting...

Gynecologic Cancers

Expert Point of View: Kathleen Moore, MD

Session moderator Kathleen Moore, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, said that while the response rates are “not incredibly high,” trabectedin offers another line of therapy where there previously was none. “I think ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Trabectedin Improves Progression-Free Survival in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma

In women with uterine leiomyosarcoma, trabectedin (Yondelis), a novel cytotoxic agent, significantly improved progression-free survival, compared with dacarbazine (4.2 vs 1.5 months, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.55, P < .001). According to the study’s authors, a lack of cumulative toxicity allows...

gynecologic cancers

Wui-Jin Koh, MD, on Vulvar Cancer: Guidelines Update

Wui-Jin Koh, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the multiple services required to best treat this rare cancer.

gynecologic cancers

Nadeem Abu-Rustum, MD, on Cervical Cancer: Evolving Treatment Strategies

Nadeem Abu-Rustum, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses improvements in fertility-sparing surgery for young women, advances in lymph node assessment, and the evolving role of chemotherapy and radiation.

Issues in Oncology
Gynecologic Cancers
Head and Neck Cancer

100% of NCI-Designated Cancer Centers Endorse the Promotion of the HPV Vaccination for Cancer Prevention

All National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers have united to support human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination (see below). A team of HPV experts drafted a consensus statement that advises widespread use of HPV vaccines to prevent cancer. HPV causes cancer of the cervix, anus, and...

gynecologic cancers

Wui-Jin Koh, MD, on Making NCCN Guidelines Relevant Around the Globe

Wui-Jin Koh, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the program to adapt NCCN guidelines to regions of the world with different resource availability. The first guideline to be adapted in this way is for cervical cancer, which is prevalent in the developing world.

global cancer care
gynecologic cancers

Eduardo Cazap, MD, PhD, and James O. Armitage, MD, on The Current State of Cancer Research and Treatment: The Latin American Perspective

Eduardo Cazap, MD, PhD, of the Latin American & Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology, and James O. Armitage, MD, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, discuss oncology from an international point of view.

gynecologic cancers

Supriya Chopra, MD, on Reducing Late Bowel Toxicity in Cervical Cancer

Supriya Chopra, MD, of Tata Memorial Hospital, discusses results of the PARCER study, which compared conventional 3D conformal radiotherapy to image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy in reducing bowel side effects for women with cervical cancer (Abstract 8).

Gynecologic Cancers
Issues in Oncology

Could a Screening Test That Would Reduce Deaths From Ovarian Cancer Be on the Way?

"A solid triple but not a home run” is how Karen H. Lu, MD, characterized a study in The Lancet reporting a reduction in deaths from ovarian cancer with the use of multimodal ovarian cancer screening.1 Dr. Lu’s remark was one of several, mostly but not universally, favorable and optimistic comments ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Hormone Replacement and Ovarian Cancer: Competing Risks in Decisions about Bilateral Salpingo-oophorectomy

Recently reported findings that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy decreased the risk of ovarian cancer compared to ovarian conservation and hysterectomy, without increasing cardiovascular, fracture, and other cancer risks, should “challenge” current thinking about bilateral...

Gynecologic Cancers

Adding Gemcitabine to Chemoradiation Improves Survival Outcomes for Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer

A phase III, open-label, randomized trial found that adding gemcitabine to concurrent cisplatin chemoradiotherapy and using gemcitabine as adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin improved survival outcomes in women with locally advanced cervical cancer. Toxicity was increased compared to standard...

Gynecologic Cancers

Trabectedin New Drug Application Withdrawn

Centocor Ortho Biotech Products, LP, announced that it has voluntarily withdrawn the New Drug Application (NDA) for trabectedin (Yondelis) for the treatment of women with recurrent ovarian cancer. The withdrawal is based on the FDA’s recommendation that an additional phase III study be conducted to ...

Gynecologic Cancers

Important Briefs from the ACOG 59th Annual Clinical Meeting

Several presentations at the 59th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), held April 30–May 4 in Washington, DC, focused on cancers associated with the reproductive tract and issues important to women’s health. Four noteworthy studies presented at...

Gynecologic Cancers

2011 ASCO Annual Meeting: 3-Year Screening Interval Safe for Women with HPV-negative and Normal Pap Tests, Data Show

A large, “real-world” study has validated current recommendations from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American Cancer Society (ACS), and American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) endorsing a 3-year cervical cancer screening interval for women...

Gynecologic Cancers

Cancer Diagnosis Can Spark Worry over Numerous Health Concerns

The early discovery of my endometrial cancer is a prime example of the health rewards you can reap if you are lucky enough to have good medical care and a dogged physician. Long past menopause, I wasn’t experiencing any of the typical warning signs of the disease—vaginal bleeding or pelvic...

Gynecologic Cancers

Novel Agents Prolong Disease-free Survival in Ovarian Cancer

Novel agents produced high response rates and prolonged remissions in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer, in studies reported at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting. In an international randomized phase II trial, maintenance therapy with the oral poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP)...

Gynecologic Cancers

Cervical Cancer Screening Study Should Reassure Physicians and Patients that a 3-Year Screening Interval Is Safe and Effective

Results of a large-scale cervical cancer screening study using concurrent human papillomavirus (HPV) and Pap testing should “reassure” women over 30 who test negative for HPV and have normal Pap tests that “it is extremely safe to go 3 years” before being tested again, Barnett S. Kramer, MD, MPH,...

Gynecologic Cancers

NCI Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Awards: Conversations in Gynecologic Oncology

The National Cancer Institute recognized Cheryl Saenz, MD, and Linda R. Duska, MD, among others, late last year with a Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. The 2-year award includes $50,000 in funding for cancer research programs at NCI-designated cancer centers. The ASCO Post...

Gynecologic Cancers

Bevacizumab Makes Inroads against Ovarian Cancer

Bevacizumab (Avastin) administered with chemotherapy and continued after chemotherapy improves outcomes in ovarian cancer, according to two multicenter, randomized, double-blind phase III investigations presented at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting. The first study, ICON7, incorporated bevacizumab as...

Gynecologic Cancers

Screening for Ovarian Cancer Does Not Reduce Mortality and Leads to Unnecessary Tests for False-Positives

Using a CA-125 blood test combined with transvaginal ultrasound for early detection of ovarian cancer failed to reduce the risk of mortality associated with the disease and led to a large number of false-positive tests with unnecessary related biopsies and other follow-up procedures in the large,...

Gynecologic Cancers
Geriatric Oncology

Elderly Patients with Ovarian Cancer Least Likely to Receive Chemotherapy

An analysis of data for 4,617 women aged 65 years or older diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer found that those in the oldest age group, 80 and up, were least likely to receive any chemotherapy. While 53% of patients 80 and older received no chemotherapy, the rate was less than half (22%) for...

Gynecologic Cancers

New Biomarker Test Cleared to Evaluate Ovarian Cancer Likelihood

Fujirebio Diagnostics announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market the company’s HE4 Test in an algorithm called ROMA to aid in assessing whether a premenopausal or postmenopausal woman who presents with an ovarian adnexal mass is at high or low likelihood of finding...

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