PARK SLOPE — Ovarian cancer has a well-deserved reputation as one of oncology’s most devastating diagnoses on several fronts. The disease is challenging to diagnose and difficult to treat. Until recently, eradicating the cancer also severely limited a patient’s chances of becoming pregnant after treatment. However, techniques performed at New York Methodist Hospital offer fertility-sparing options for younger women with ovarian cancer.
“While the majority of ovarian cancer cases occur in patients over the age of 50, we are seeing more and more women in their 30s and 40s being diagnosed with the disease,” explains Katherine Economos, M.D., director of gynecologic oncology at New York Methodist Hospital. “Of course, their first concern is for successful treatment of their cancer,” she adds, “But these patients also want viable options for resuming their lives after treatment, and, for many, this means the chance to have a baby.”
Although ovarian cancer is often caught in its later stages, nearly half of all younger women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed with a Stage I disease that hasn’t yet spread to other tissues.
Fortunately for these patients, fertility-sparing surgery, which involves removing only the effected ovary, can be a safe and effective alternative to the full hysterectomy (removal of the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes) that is standard protocol in the majority of ovarian cancer cases.
Recent research has showed that retaining both the uterus and the unaffected ovary of women diagnosed with early-stage epithelial ovarian cancer (the most common type), can preserve normal menstruation and result in subsequent healthy pregnancies. “Fertility sparing surgery is a tremendous asset for a select group of patients, to help them overcome their cancer and go on to achieve healthy pregnancies,” said George Kofinas, M.D., medical director of the Fertility Institute and chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at NYM.
“Yet, there are also women diagnosed in the early stages of ovarian cancer for whom this surgery is not feasible because both ovaries and/or the fallopian tubes must be removed,” said Dr. Kofinas. “Other options are available, however, that can accomplish the same goal of post-treatment fertility.”
One of these alternatives is embryo freezing, which involves harvesting eggs from the ovaries, fertilizing them with the partner’s (or a donor’s) sperm, and cryopreserving the embryo. This procedure can take up to six weeks to complete, and can be performed if cancer treatment can be delayed for that amount of time.
With a diagnosis of ovarian cancer in a patient of childbearing age, Dr. Economos and Dr. Kofinas agree that the most important first step is to consult with both a gynecologic oncologist and a fertility specialist. “It is crucial that these two areas of practice and expertise merge to determine the best course of treatment, each step of the way, that will result in a cancer-free prognosis and the potential for future fertility and motherhood,” said Dr. Economos.
For more information or to make an appointment with a physician associated with New York Methodist Hospital, please call (718) 246-8500.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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