September Marks Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
DENVER (September 19, 2016) — Ovarian cancer is the deadliest form of gynecologic cancer and will affect one in 70 American women over their lifetime. According to cancer specialists at the University of Colorado, most women with ovarian cancer receive inadequate care, robbing them of a year or more of life as they struggle with the deadly disease.
The reason? Most doctors treating them are not specialized in reproductive cancers, and often not trained in all the available treatments.
Denver’s Carol Goldstein, a 70-year-old nurse and PhD who’s had ovarian cancer twice, knows that all too well. She would like to tell other women not to settle for inferior treatment of ovarian cancer. Goldstein got her treatment at the University of Colorado’s department of Gynecologic Oncology where Dr. Saketh Guntupalli and his colleagues are advancing ovarian cancer research at the CU School of Medicine.
Dr. Guntupalli’s mission: to alert women that receiving the proper, existing treatments would improve ovarian cancer survival more than any new drug or therapy.
Media Note: Dr. Guntupalli and Carol Goldstein are available for interviews with the media. In an interview, Goldstein and Dr. Guntupalli can address:
- Goldstein’s personal struggle with ovarian cancer and her journey of being referred to CU Gynecologic Oncology for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
- The difficulty of treating ovarian cancer and the inadequacy of non-specialists care.
- Dr. Guntupalli’s research using biomarkers in treating the deadliest form of ovarian cancer.
- Two-thirds of patients receiving inferior treatment may be missing out on:
- Surgical debulking, often the best treatment if performed by a gynecologic oncologist
- Intraperitonal chemotherapy (chemo directly to the abdomen)
- Other advanced treatments that require special training or surgical expertise.
Additional resources
About University of Colorado Gynecologic Oncology
University of Colorado Gynecologic Oncology is dedicated to treating, curing and providing support for women with gynecologic cancers or gynecological surgical needs, including the complex cases other doctors are not able to treat. UC Gyn Onc is the largest board-certified surgical gynecologic oncology team in Colorado and the only National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) center in the Rocky Mountain region. The practice is part of the University of Colorado Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and has locations at the UC Cancer Center in Aurora and at the Lone Tree Health Center.