Gynecologic Oncology
Clinical discussions on gynecologic malignancies, surgical approaches, and multimodal treatment strategies.
Recent Discussions
How would you manage a patient in her 50s with FIGO IA clear cell carcinoma of the endometrium with extensive LVSI and ITCs in an obturator node after 6 cycles of carbo/taxol?
I would favor EBRT plus brachy boost.Here is a review and our treatment philosophy Musunuru et al., PMID 35248784
What is the maximum time you would wait after hysterectomy to start RT for a FIGO II endometriod adenocarcinoma before cancelling treatment and saving for salvage?
Great question, and I don't know that there is a perfect answer. If I were going to answer with some specificity, I would say 4 months. Obviously this is not ideal. However, in the presence of more compelling indications for treatment (your question relates to stage II patients/stromal invasion), I ...
How would you treat an endometrial cancer with pelvic sidewall nodes, patient s/p TAH/BSO but nodes were fixed and unresectable?
We would treat with IMRT and IGRT with concurrent cisplatinum based chemotherapy, with SIB boost dose to involved nodes (dose based on size and proximity of critical organs) followed by adjuvant chemo.
With COVID-19 worries, are you more likely to offer women with endometrial cancer vaginal cuff brachytherapy over EBRT?
I would treat with brachy alone, as even in a non COVID environment with her comorbidities, the benefit of EBRT is minimal in terms of survival.
What adjuvant therapy do you recommend for comprehensively staged, stage II, FIGO grade 3 deeply invasive endometrial cancer?
I would strongly consider external beam therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy.
Would you consider robotic lymph node dissection and parametrectomy for a patient with incidental stage 1A2 cervical cancer after simple hysterectomy?
I would not consider a parametrectomy, but I would definitely do a lymph node evaluation. Depending on risk factors such as tumor size, presence of LVSI, and depth of invasion, I would start with a PET scan. Rates of positive lymph nodes can be as high as 8-10% for these early-stage cancers. If ther...
How does positive p53 staining influence your recommendation for adjuvant therapy in comprehensively staged early (stage IA or IB), grade 2, endometrioid endometrial cancers?
It does not influence my recommendations. If a study is available to potential study the risk conferred by P53, I would offer it to my patient.
How would you treat cervical stump SCC involving bladder, pelvic nodes, and port-site metastasis in a patient post-laparoscopic hysterectomy?
No standard approach. If good KPS, would favor treating with definitive chemo RT with EBRT plus interstitial plus weekly cisplatinum. For port site recurrence depending on volume, would favor local excision vs. definitive RT dose.
Do you ever offer minimally invasive surgery for treatment of early stage cervical cancer?
I do not offer minimally invasive surgeries to cervical cancer patients regardless of tumor size based on the RCT data. I think there is also sufficient retrospective data to question this approach in even smaller tumor sizes and do not feel comfortable offering this to patients given the concern fo...
Would you offer brachytherapy for a patient with metastatic cervical cancer s/p 30Gy/10 fx to the pelvis followed by chemotherapy who only has isolated disease in the cervix?
Control of central pelvic disease in cervical cancer is a main goal of treatment, regardless of whether the patient has metastatic disease or not. This is important for maintaining quality of life. Death from central pelvic disease is very unpleasant. Therefore, I recommend brachytherapy in this pop...