Dr. Frederick Provides Expert Opinion About Ovarian Cancer Study Results | Mission: Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Expert Opinion

In a recent interview with WBFO’s Eileen Buckley, RPCI’s Dr. Peter Frederick commented on a study from the University of California,* which revealed that only about 37% of women with ovarian cancer get care consistent with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Dr. Frederick, Assistant Professor of Oncology within Roswell Park’s Department of Gynecologic Oncology, called this statistic a “wakeup call” for health care providers and patients.
Conclusions drawn from the study can be summed as follows:

• Adherence to NCCN guidelines for treatment of ovarian cancer is correlated with overall survival.
• High-volume providers are significantly more likely to provide NCCN guideline-adherent care associated with improved survival outcomes. (A provider is considered to be "high-volume" when they treat 20 ovarian cancer patients per year. More than 100 women with ovarian cancer are treated at Roswell Park each year. )

Empowering Women to be Self-Advocates
Ovarian cancer is a particularly difficult cancer to treat because there are no good screening approaches, and it's often detected at advanced stages when treatment options are limited. So what can women do to ensure not only adequate, but exceptional ovarian cancer care? Dr. Frederick recommended to:

• ask questions about how experienced your surgeon is;
• get a second opinion; and
• seek specialized ovarian cancer care from high-volume gynecologic oncology providers.

Visit WBFO’s website to read the full news article or study abstract, and listen to an audio clip featuring Dr. Frederick. 
* Abstract presented by Robert Bristow, MD, MBA, FACS, Director of Gynecologic Oncology Services at the University of California, Irvine, on March 11, 2013 at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.