Gynaecological Cancer Treatment Enters New era of Patient-tailored Care

BELGRADE, Serbia - Advances in cancer prevention and treatment reported at this week’s premier European congress for specialists in gynaecological cancers show that care is being more effectively tailored to the needs of individual women, so that survival can be improved without the cost of added complications and reduced quality of life.

Speaking at this week’s 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia, the Society’s new President, Professor Ate van der Zee, from the Netherlands, stressed the value of this new approach:

“Our latest treatments take account of the fact that every woman is different, and it isn’t enough just to try to improve life expectancy. We need to try to minimise the effects of treatment on a woman’s working and family life, and to take more account of whether she still wants to have children.”

“We have also learned how important it is to concentrate our expertise in specialist centres, especially when we are treating the rarer gynaecological cancers, so that women have access to the most up to date knowledge and expertise that doctors specifically trained in gynaecological cancer can provide.”

“By building this expertise we can also ensure that new discoveries made in laboratories across Europe are translated into clinical treatments as efficiently as possible as we develop ever more refined therapies tailored to the unique genetic and other characteristics of our patients.”

Notes for Editors:

Summaries of key advances in gynaecological oncology announced at this year’s ESGO congress are summarised in the following series of short reports.

Nobel scientist urges wider vaccination against HPV infection to achieve eradication

A global vaccination programme against human papilloma virus (HPV), to include boys as well as girls, could lead to eradication of the virus and virtual disappearance of cervical cancer, predicted Nobel Prize winner, Professor Harald zur Hausen, after delivering the key-note lecture at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia, this week.

Professor zur Hausen, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for his discovery of HPV as the cause of cervical cancer, explained that although HPV prevention will impact mainly on women’s health, it also has important implications for men’s health:

“If we wish to achieve eradication within a reasonable period of time, we will need to vaccinate both sexes, and research has shown that boys respond to vaccination in the same way as girls. The main risk of developing cancer after HPV infection is with women and, because of the cost of vaccines, it has been decided to start with girls. But other cancers associated with HPV infection, such as anal and oral cancer, are more common in men, and genital warts occur in both sexes. So there is good reason to vaccinate boys before the onset of sexual activity as well,” said Professor zur Hausen.

He suggested that future reductions in production costs and development of cheaper vaccines will make wider vaccination a realistic option, and added that a major reduction in HPV 16 and 18 - the viruses which cause 70-80% of human papilloma infections - would probably enable the interval between currently used cervical screening tests to be extended. The introduction of self sampling by women, using new tests for HPV DNA, would also help to simplify screening procedures.

“A therapeutic intervention is also needed to protect people after they have acquired HPV infection, and it would be a great advantage to have targeted chemotherapy that would block viral functions that are responsible for development of precursor and malignant lesions. A lot of laboratories are working on this and, although I know of nothing yet, it will hopefully not be too long before we see progress,” concluded Professor zur Hausen.

High dose folate and B vitamin supplements increase uterine cancer risk

Women who take large amounts of folate, vitamin B2, B6 or B12 supplements may be increasing their risk of uterine cancer, according to research presented at the 16th International Meeting of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) in Belgrade, Serbia, 11-14 October 2009.

Results from a 20 year follow up of dietary intake in over 23,000 postmenopausal women taking part in the Iowa Women’s Health Study, have shown that women who consumed large amounts of the supplements were twice as likely to get type II uterine cancer than women who had normal intakes, although there was no effect on type I uterine cancer.

Dr S Uccella, from the department of gynaecologic surgery at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA, explained that the results contrasted with the expected protective effects of the supplements and further investigation showed that, while a folate intake of 200-600mcg/day did have a protective effect, taking higher levels nearer 1000mcg/day increased the risk of uterine cancer.

He concluded that the research could have implications for women’s health in countries such as the USA and Canada, where folate and B vitamins are added to foodstuffs, and other countries considering similar action.

For further information, or picture of Professor van de Zee, please contact: Hannah Stacey Athena Medical PR +44(0)208-956-2289 hannah@athenamedicalpr.com Tali Eisenberg-Nissim Kenes Media +972-3-9727535 teisenberg@kenes.com or press@kenes.com

Source: European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO)

For further information, or picture of Professor van de Zee, please contact: Hannah Stacey, Athena Medical PR, +44(0)208-956-2289 / +44(0)7984-496-441, hannah at athenamedicalpr.com; Tali Eisenberg-Nissim, Kenes Media, +972-3-9727535 / +972-54-6787835, teisenberg at kenes.com or press at kenes.com