CONTACT: Kristi Hellmuth
Johanna Spangenberg; (202) 638-7222
New Scientific Advances Take Center Stage in
Presentations at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists
The nationÃs top specialists in gynecologic oncology will meet in Phoenix, AZ, March 22-26, 1997. New research on the prevention, detection, and cure of female cancers will be presented.
CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 25, 1997--- 800 of the nationÃs leading gynecologic oncologists will meet March 22-26, 1997, at the Pointe Hilton on South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ, for the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. The conference will feature case studies, scientific posters, and the presentation of new medical and scientific research regarding the diagnosis and treatment of womenÃs cancers.
The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) is a professional society of physicians who specialize in treating women with cancer. SGO is the only US-based medical organization dedicated to the prevention, detection, and cure of female cancers. Gynecologic oncologists are cancer specialists who are trained in all the effective forms of treatment of gynecologic cancers (surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and experimental treatments) as well as the biology and pathology of gynecologic cancers. The organizationÃs membership includes gynecologic oncologists as well as medical oncologists, radiation therapists, and pathologists whose primary professional commitment is to the treatment of women with malignancies, that include cancers of the ovary, endometrium, uterus, cervix vagina, and vulva, as well as trophoblastic disease.
The SGO Annual Meeting is the forum where leading researchers in gynecologic oncology present their findings. Significant scientific and medical research to be presented at this yearÃs meeting includes:
∑ High Dose Chemotherapy with Autologous Transplantation for Persistent/Relapsed Ovarian Cancer: A Multivariate Analysis of Survival for 100 Consecutively Treated Patients. Women with persistent or relapsed ovarian cancer may have a new weapon to battle this insidious disease. Dr. Robert Bayer from Loyola University in Chicago explains how an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant can provide support for patients receiving high dose chemotherapy. (Loyola University Medical Center: R.A. Bayer, S.G. Fisher, C. Kerger, D. Smith, R.K. Potkul, P.J. Stiff)
∑ Detecting False Negative Cervical Smears: Comparative Analysis of Neural Network Assisted Screening to Manual Prescreening; Laurie Mango, MD, from Neuromedical Systems Inc., and researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine compare the ability of conventional and new computer-based Pap smear analysis to detect missed abnormalities (ìfalse negativesî). This research offers the largest case study examined over 10,000 pap smear samples and, for the first time, measures the effectiveness of conventional rescreening methods (manual rescreening with a microscope). (Neuromedical Systems Inc., and Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Laurie J. Mango, Gary Goldberg, Irwin Merkatz)
∑ Success of Early Detection and Prevention of Invasive Cervical Neoplasia Decreases with Age. How often should a woman have a cervical examination? Steven Plaxe, MD, and Sidney Saltzstein, MD, at the University of California, San Diego, reviewed the records of more than 45,000 women to determine the impact of age on early detection of cancer cells of the cervix, finding that early detection progressively fails as age increases. (University of California-San Diego: Steven Plaxe, Sidney Saltzstein, University of California, San Diego)
∑ Estrogen Replacement Therapy in Breast Cancer Survivors. For years, physicians recommended that women who survived breast cancer should avoid estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) for fear that the treatment contributed to a reoccurrence of the breast cancer. This comprehensive study conducted at the University of California-Irvine reveals new information regarding the safety of this treatment. (University of California-Irvine: W.R. Brewster, E.A. Grosen, J.L. Kuykendall, K.F. McGonigle, P.J. DiSaia)
∑ Transcriptional Targeting of Molecular Chemotherapy for Gynecologic Malignancies. A team of University of Alabama-Birmingham physicians have concluded that with todayÃs new molecular chemotherapy strategies treating gynecologic malignancies does not require killing healthy cells. A new ìsearch and destroyî gene construct offers great promise in the battle against womenÃs cancers. (University of Alabama at Birmingham: M. Robertson, M. Wang, M. Rosenfeld, J. Deshane, R. Ashford)
∑ A Phase I Trial of Retroviral BRCA1 Gene Therapy in Ovarian Cancer. The BRCA1 gene is frequently mutated in hereditary ovarian cancer but expressed at low levels in sporadic ovarian cancer. Dr. David L. Tait from Vanderbilt University and a group of gynecologic oncologists examined 12 patients to test the effectiveness of a revolutionary approach to gene replacement therapy as a treatment for ovarian cancer. (Vanderbilt University Medical Center: David Tait, Jeffrey Holt, Howard Jones; University of Washington: Mary Claire-King)
Members of the media are invited to attend the SGO Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Authors of the scientific papers as well as medical researchers are available to speak to print and broadcast journalists. For further information, contact Kristi Hellmuth or Johanna Spangenberg at (202) 638-7222.
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