THE OVARIAN CANCER NATIONAL ALLIANCE ALERTS MEMBERSHIP TO NCI CLINICAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON EXTENDED SURVIVORSHIP

 

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (the Alliance) is alerting its membership to the recent National Cancer Institute (NCI) clinical announcement recommending a preferred combination of Intraperitoneal (IP) and Intravenous (IV) therapy to extend survivorship for women with advanced ovarian cancer. The Alliance Executive Director, Sherry Salway Black, said, “ Since 81 percent of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced stage disease, the results of this recently released clinical trial demonstrating increased survivorship and the NCI announcement is important information for our members.”

 

The clinical trail involving 429 women with stage III ovarian cancer was described in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that was made public today.  The trial, led by Deborah Armstrong, M.D., a medical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, MD, and her colleagues in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) found that women treated with the combination IP and IV therapy had a median survival time of sixteen months longer than women who had IV treatment only.

 

Salway Black called attention to the very comprehensive NCI announcement that details results of additional trials of IP therapy, treatment direction for physicians administering IP therapy and questions to be considered by patients and physicians regarding toxicity and health-related Quality of Life.

 

Salway Black said, “I want to remind women of the Alliance’s recommendation that, where possible, the initial surgery and treatment be handled by a gynecologic oncologist.”  Further, she said, “It is important that patients and their caregivers familiarize themselves with the details of this NCI-recommended treatment as it might pertain to their individual case and first discuss it thoroughly with their doctors.

 In 2005 more than 22,220 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 16, 210 women died of this deadliest of gynecologic diseases.  There are symptoms such as abdominal pressure, bloating or discomfort; nausea, indigestion or gas; constipation, diarrhea or frequent urination; abnormal bleeding; unusual fatigue; unexpected weight loss or gain, and shortness of breath. These symptoms are often misdiagnosed for gastrointestinal problems.

 The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance is a patient-led, umbrella organization uniting ovarian cancer activists, women's health advocates and health care professionals in the effort to increase public and professional understanding of ovarian cancer and to advocate for more effective diagnostics, treatments and a cure