Advanced, comprehensive treatment options
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center offers the most effective medical and surgical treatments for gynecologic cancers, including state-of-the-art approaches such as targeted therapies. Additionally, you have the opportunity to enroll in clinical trials testing new and promising therapies that are only available at NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers like Massey.
Different kinds and combinations of treatment are possible, depending on the type of cancer and the stage at which it is diagnosed. Possible treatments include:
Surgery
Our gynecologists have unique and specialized training in the surgical management of cancers of the female genital tract. The quality of your surgery impacts the entire course of your cancer treatment. Massey offers a full range of radical and minimally invasive surgical treatments for ovarian, fallopian tube, primary peritoneal, uterine, cervical, vaginal, vulvar cancers and premalignant gynecologic conditions. The type of surgery is individualized to each patient. With traditional “open” surgery, the surgeon uses one large incision to perform a procedure. With laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon makes several small incisions and inserts small tools – including a video camera – to perform the procedure. We also specialize in robotic surgery for staging and treating certain gynecological cancers. The da Vinci robotic platform allows the surgeon to perform complex laparoscopic surgeries with the benefits of a 3D, high definition camera and robotic arms that allow for more precise control and fine movements. For patients who are candidates for minimally invasive surgery, the benefits include shorter hospital stays, faster postoperative recovery and lower rates of postoperative complications.
At Massey, we follow an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol in our care of patients before, during and after surgery. Through ERAS, our patients are actively involved in their own recovery process. Components of the program are:
- Pain management. Each patient has a personalized pain management plan designed to limit the use of opioids (narcotics)
- Early mobility and feeding. We help our patients begin to move and eat as soon after surgery as possible -Fluid management. We provide our patients with only as much IV fluid as they need to prevent fluid overload and bloating after surgery
Following ERAS helps our patients recover faster, leave the hospital sooner and have fewer complications following surgery.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy drugs are usually injected or given by mouth and are used to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. Some women may have chemotherapy before or after surgery. The chemotherapy experts on our team have years of experience managing gynecologic cancers
Clinical trials
Clinical trials are research studies that explore whether a medical strategy, treatment or device is safe and effective, and they also may show which medical approaches work best for certain illnesses or groups of people. Massey offers a wide range of clinical trials for both newly diagnosed and relapsed patients, including some trials that are not found elsewhere. Our trials test new anti-cancer therapies and ways to minimize common cancer-related symptoms. These trials provide access to investigational agents and innovative, new therapies that may help increase the chance for successful treatment.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is a cancer treatment that slows or stops the growth of cancer that uses hormones to grow. Hormone therapy may be used for women who cannot have surgery or radiation therapy, or it may be used in combination with other types of treatment. Hormone therapy may be given orally as a pill, by injection or through the surgical removal of the ovaries, which produce hormones.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and stop them from spreading. Radiation therapy is used in the treatment of many gynecologic cancers including cervical, endometrial, vulvar, vaginal and ovarian. It can be delivered after surgery to destroy any cancer cells remaining in the area, before surgery to shrink the tumor or in place of surgery, and is often combined with chemotherapy. The most common type of radiation treatment is called external beam radiation therapy, which is radiation given from a machine outside the body. The other type is internal radiation treatment known as brachytherapy, which is delivered by a source that is placed inside of the body. Our radiation oncologists are experts in both types of radiotherapy and customize the treatments to each of our patients.
Targeted therapies
Targeted cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules (“molecular targets”) that are involved in the growth, progression and spread of cancer. Targeted therapies are the foundation of precision medicine, a form of medicine that uses information about a person’s genes and proteins to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. An example of a targeted therapy for gynecologic cancers recently approved by the FDA is olaparib. It is a PARP inhibitor, inhibiting poly ADP ribose polymerase, an enzyme involved in DNA repair, and olaparib is approved for germline BRCA mutated advanced ovarian cancer.
