Gynecologic Cancer

The cervix is the opening to the uterus. Cervical cancer is caused by some types of Human papillomavirus (HPV). Pap smears are designed to detect abnormal cells on the cervix long before they develop into cervical cancer.

Cancer of the uterine lining, often presents with abnormal bleeding. If you have bleeding after menopause or bleeding that isn’t controlled by medicine, speak with your doctor about the possibility of endometrial cancer.

This rare cancer develops in the tubes that connect the ovaries and the uterus.

Cancer of the ovary, familial or spontaneous, can be difficult to diagnose until it is advanced. If you have unusual symptoms of stomach upset or abdominal bloating that does not improve, speak to your doctor about the possibility of ovarian cancer.

This rare cancer develops in the peritoneum, a thin, delicate sheet that lines the inside wall of the abdomen and covers the uterus and extends over the bladder and rectum.

Uterine cancer occurs in the muscle of the uterus and is often referred to as sarcoma.

Cancer starting in the vagina is very rare. Common symptoms of vaginal cancer are new discharge or bleeding. Like cervical and vulvar cancer, the HPV virus plays a role in its development.

Cancer of the skin on the vulva can behave like skin cancer in other areas of the body or can originate from some types of HPV. Tell your doctor if you have persistent itching or notice changes in the skin on your vulva.

We have a full-service colposcopy program for the evaluation of women with abnormal Pap smear results and to help diagnose premalignant and malignant reproductive diseases. We offer laser, LEEP, and cold knife conizations for cervical cancer and have applied these techniques for vulvar and vaginal cancer in selected patients.

We have a full spectrum of chemotherapeutic agents useful in the management of ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, uterine cancer, mesenchyme tumors of the uterus, cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, and vulvar cancer. These chemotherapeutic agents may be used either for primary treatment or treatment of recurrent disease.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, or chemotherapy prescribed before surgical treatment, is often used for women with advanced ovarian cancer to reduce the size and impact of the cancer and its metastases. This minimizes complications during surgery and improves recovery following the operation. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy, where chemotherapy is injected directly into the abdomen through a catheter, is also an option for ovarian cancer treatment.

The Gynecologic Cancers Program offers chemotherapy both for previously untreated gynecologic malignancies as well as for the management of recurrent gynecologic malignancies that may have initially failed to respond to chemotherapy or other treatment modalities.

Learn more about medical oncology

Our radiation oncology services use both brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy for the management of a spectrum of gynecologic cancers including cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, and vulvar cancer. Patients treated at Smilow have access to the latest, most precise technologies, including image-guided intensity modulated radiation therapy and high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Learn more about radiation oncology

The Gynecologic Cancers Program at Smilow Cancer Hospital provides surgical management of complications resulting from gynecologic cancers or for progressive disease that include small and large bowel resections, colostomies, fistula repairs, and repair of pelvic support for the management of patients with gynecologic malignancies.

We also provide surgical management of disease that previously was not susceptible to effective surgery or whose recurrence now makes it appropriate to operate. Gynecologic surgery can include radical resection of recurrent ovarian cancer, radical hysterectomies and pelvic exenterations for recurrent cervical cancer, radical resections of pelvic and abdominal disease for recurrent endometrial cancer and surgical resection of vulvar lesions following surgery or surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy for the management of vulvar cancer.

Learn more about surgical oncology

Clinicians with the Gynecologic Cancers Program are routinely asked to provide surgical management for gynecologic cancer patients with benign gynecologic conditions, particularly those that had previously been treated surgically unsuccessfully. Such conditions include endometriosis, extensive uterine fibroids (leiomyomas), recurrent ovarian cysts, pelvic pain, and pelvis organ prolapse. Prophylactic surgery, including hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, or bilateral salpingectomy with ovarian conservation, is also available to women looking to prevent ovarian cancer occurrence.

Our Gynecologic Cancers Program offers urologic, gastrointestinal and gynecologic surgery for the management of previously untreated gynecologic cancers, These operations include radical hysterectomies for cervical cancer, cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer, radical vulvectomies for vulvar cancer and total abdominal hysterectomies, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies, and lymphadenectomies for the staging and treatment of endometrial cancers. Gynecologic surgery for unusual tumors occurring in the female pelvis, such as benign and malignant soft tissue tumors, are routinely managed by the Gynecologic Cancer Program.

Minimally invasive robotic surgery is also available for some women in need of gynecologic surgery.

Conventional laparoscopic and robotic surgery is available to women in need of surgery for uterine cancer, for removal of the uterus, tubes, and ovaries. The surgeries are also offered to women with invasive cervical cancer who require a radical hysterectomy.

When possible, preservation of fertility in women with gynecologic cancers is always a priority. We have routinely preserved fertility in women with rare germ cell ovarian cancers. In addition, we perform radical trachelectomies in women with early stage cervical cancer who desire fertility preservation. For women with early stage, low-grade endometrial cancers, hormonal therapy is prescribed.