Gynecologic Oncology
Clinical discussions on gynecologic malignancies, surgical approaches, and multimodal treatment strategies.
Recent Discussions
How do you counsel patients who are candidates for a clinical trial regarding their options?
I typically discuss the option with patients as early as possible in their diagnosis, and explain that at some point during their treatment they may become a candidate for a clinical trial. I discuss resources to look into clinical trials and what they mean for patients. We discuss patient website r...
When might you recommend adjuvant chemotherapy for fully staged/resected stage IA clear cell ovarian carcinoma?
Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary is one of the less common forms of ovarian cancer and is considered a high-grade tumor. It has a higher risk for recurrence and a poorer prognosis as compared to some other forms of ovarian cancer. For that reason, adjuvant therapy with platinum based chemotherapy i...
How would you manage a patient with recurrent granulosa tumor following secondary, R0 cytoreduction, and negative inhibins postoperatively?
If inhibin was a useful marker for recurrence, I think it is acceptable to observe without further therapy, particularly if time to recurrence was prolonged. However, adjuvant therapy with paclitaxel/carboplatin would also be a good option.
How do you advise patients on duration of first line maintenance PARPi and the potential risk of MDS or AML?
For patients, who could derive significant survival benefit from first line maintenance PARP-inhibition (BRCA+ and HRD tumors), we advise them to take PARP-inhibitors up to 2 years (olaparib) or up to 3 years (niraparib) if no disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. I counsel patients that dev...
Is there a role for reassessing somatic mutation status at relapse in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer?
No – I don’t think there is any role for reassessment at this point. If commercialization of testing for reversion mutations becomes available – and it will or a functional test of HR status – then yes – I would reassess but I don’t see a reason at this point.
How would you manage a patient with recurrent stage IIIC granulosa tumor following secondary, R0 cytoreduction?
There is not a lot of data to go on in this situation. R0 resection is probably one of the best predictors for survival. Karalok et al., PMID 27174627 reported on a series of 18 patients undergoing resection of recurrent disease. Complete resection resulted in PFS and OS > 200 months.In general, the...
What are the current official guidelines regarding COVID-19 vaccination for patients with cancer or for hematologic conditions?
There are a number of resources available to guide clinicians on these decisions. I recommend the COVID-19 Resources webpage curated by the American Society of Hematology (COI, I'm the editor of that website). https://www.hematology.org/covid-19 This website includes guidance on immunizations in the...
Do you consider an ovarian cancer patient who progresses on PARP inhibitor, either for treatment or maintenance, to be platinum resistant regardless of time since last platinum based chemotherapy?
I would not necessarily. The time since the last platinum is what would drive my answer. It may pan out in fact that the patient is no longer platinum sensitive, but I would not make that determination based on an assumption that progression on PARP = platinum resistance. Although we do say that pla...
How would you manage a recurrent endometrial cancer confined to the vaginal cuff that is completely resected?
At this point, unless there is contraindication to EBRT, we favor the combination of EBRT plus HDR brachy.
How do you manage a cervical cancer that needs interstitial brachytherapy with prolonged thrombocytopenia after concurrent chemoRT?
Although infrequent, we have done pre op plt transfusion to make brachytherapy feasible and to avoid prolonging the total duration.