Special Session Highlights Late-Breaking Abstracts

Range of gynecologic oncology research is as impressive as pace

CHICAGO, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In their continuing quest to eradicate women's cancer, gynecologic oncologists are developing new approaches to treatment, diagnosis and prevention of these diseases. An outstanding assortment of new research—covering everything from advances in chemotherapy (such as intraperitoneal therapy) and cancer screening, to surgical methods that improve quality of life and preventive practices that stop dangerous precursors from turning into cancer—will be on display in San Francisco March 14-17, 2010, during the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists' 41st Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer, the premier scientific meeting for women's cancer specialists.

Two new randomized clinical trials and one new post-hoc analysis, among others, offer the latest evidence of the specialty's commitment to improving treatment and prevention of disease. The abstracts will be presented on March 15 during the Late Breaking Abstracts (LBA) session at the Annual Meeting. Five late-breaking abstracts were selected for the session, and three are being highlighted as representative of the specialty's range of research.

"These abstracts are indicative of the high-quality research being conducted in our sub-specialties," said Dr. David G. Mutch, president of the SGO. "It is very encouraging to see the frequency with which important results are becoming available and we are thrilled to be able to showcase these studies at our Annual Meeting, where our colleagues from across the country and the world can evaluate the findings and learn about the latest approaches."

SGO 41st Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer

The SGO LBA session highlights significant research completed after the Annual Meeting's usual abstract submission deadline. The abstracts selected for this year's LBA session are scheduled to be published in the May 2010 issue of Gynecologic Oncology.

The clinical trials featured in the LBA session indicate that laparoscopic surgery for uterine cancer offers several quality-of-life advantages (less pain and surgical recovery time, higher ratings on FACT-G and other quality-of-life evaluations) over full abdominal incisional procedures for hysterectomy—and is just as safe and effective. The post-hoc analysis featured in the session indicates that HPV vaccine reduces recurrence of HPV-related cervical, vulvar and vaginal lesions after definitive surgery for those diseases.

"We selected this year's late-breaking abstracts from an outstanding pool of submissions completed between December of last year and this February," said Dr. Thomas Herzog, chairman of the program committee for SGO's 2010 Annual Meeting. "The range of late-breaking submissions shows the level of commitment within the specialty not just to surgical advances, but to staging, diagnostics, quality of life and prevention."

Featured Late Breaking Abstracts 2010

The following late-breaking abstracts are being highlighted during the LBA session, March 15:

• Recurrence and Survival after Randomization to Laparoscopy versus Laparotomy for Comprehensive Surgical Staging of Uterine Cancer (Gynecologic Oncology Group LAP2) – Joan Walker, MD
• Improved Short-term and Long-term Quality of Life for Patients with Endometrial Cancer: Quality of Life Results from the LACE Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy versus Total Abdominal Hysterectomy for Stage I Endometrial Cancer – Andreas Obermair
• Impact of the Quadrivalent HPV6/11/16/18 Vaccine in Women Who have Undergone Definitive Therapy: Do These Women Benefit from Vaccination? – Warner Huh, MD

About SGO

The SGO is a national medical specialty organization of physicians who are trained in the comprehensive management of women with malignancies of the reproductive tract. Its purpose is to improve the care of women with gynecologic cancer by encouraging research, disseminating knowledge, which will raise the standards of practice in the prevention and treatment of gynecologic malignancies, and cooperating with other organizations interested in women's health care, oncology and related fields. The Society's membership, totaling more than 1230, is primarily comprised of gynecologic oncologists, as well as other related medical specialists including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and pathologists. SGO members provide multidisciplinary cancer treatment including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery and supportive care. More information on the SGO can be found at www.sgo.org.

SOURCE Society of Gynecologic Oncologists