The Valley Hospital Responds to National Study on Ovarian Cancer Treatment

As reported this week in The New York Times, a study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology's Annual Meeting shows that just over two-thirds of American women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are receiving inadequate treatment and that 80 percent of women with ovarian cancer are being treated by doctors and hospitals that see few cases of the disease and, therefore, lack the expertise they need.

"The surgical treatment of ovarian cancer should be done by an experienced gynecologic oncologist with the skills needed to remove all traces of cancer," says William Burke, M.D., Director of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology at The Valley Hospital, who, with Noah Goldman, M.D., have more than 20 years combined experience and annually perform more than 400 major gynecologic surgical procedures.

The study, led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, recommends that women seek care from a gynecologic oncologist who performs 10 ovarian cancer surgeries or more each year. The study further suggests that hospitals should adhere to care guidelines set forth by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Drs. Burke and Goldman exceed the recommended surgical procedure criteria and The Valley Hospital's Blumenthal Cancer Center adheres to the NCCN guidelines in caring for almost 50 ovarian cancer patients a year. Valley has also received the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission for six areas of cancer care, including uterine/ovarian cancer.

For more details on the study, click here. For more information on how to access the comprehensive gynecologic oncology services at The Valley Hospital,  contact the Blumenthal Cancer Center at 201-634-5707, or send us an e-mail.