Member News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 22, 2006
Silver Cross Offers Breakthrough Treatment for Ovarian Cancer
As a result of a recent breakthrough found in cancer treatment, doctors at Silver Cross Hospital, one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the nation, are now better able to treat patients with ovarian cancer. Delivering chemotherapy to patients using an intraperitoneal (IP) catheter has been proven to increase overall survival of women with advanced ovarian cancer by more than a year.
Janet Arthur of Homer Glen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March of this year. She went to Dr. Joseph Karcavich, her family physician, after experiencing severe bloating in her stomach for about a month. “At the beginning of February I just thought I was gaining weight but I couldn’t understand why,” says Arthur. A CT scan revealed that Arthur had Stage 3 ovarian cancer.
Arthur met with Dr. Lawrence Schilder, oncologist/hematologist on staff Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, to discuss her surgery and chemotherapy treatment. Dr. Schilder said Arthur, at 58 years old, was the perfect candidate for intraperitoneal chemotherapy-a breakthrough chemotherapy option used to treat women with ovarian cancer. Arthur was in good health and young enough to ensure that she would be able to handle the chemotherapy.
Arthur underwent an extensive surgery in April to remove the cancer. During the surgery, a port was inserted in her stomach so she could be given chemotherapy.
“Conventional chemotherapy is delivered by vein, and it circulates through the entire body, designed to destroy cancer cells wherever they may be,” says Dr. Schilder.
Ovarian cancer, however, is one of the most difficult cancers to cure. “With ovarian cancer, surgical removal-although it removes all visible tumor, is unable to eradicate every last tumor cell. Microscopic residual ovarian cancer cells, like seeds of dandelions floating around your lawn that eventually become flowers, remain behind and re-occur months or years after surgery,” says Dr. Schilder. To better target ovarian cancer, an intraperitoneal catheter can be placed directly into the abdominal cavity.
At every chemotherapy treatment, Arthur would receive a double dose of the medicine-one intravenously, through the port in her vein, and the other through her port in her abdomen. The port in her stomach is near her pelvic region so the medicine will be applied directly to the cancerous area. Dr. Schilder says, “Intraperitoneal chemotherapy is a more concentrated, more potent chemotherapy delivery system so the chemotherapy dwells in the area where the cancer is, and can do something beyond what it does in the vein”
Most importantly, because IP chemotherapy delivers such a powerful dose of medicine to the affected area, more cancer cells are killed. Dr. Schilder says, “There is strong recent evidence from 3 major international studies that this is a superior way to give chemotherapy, which makes patients live 12 to 14 months longer than the conventional delivery route.”<.p>
“Dr, Schilder is a compassionate physician with a great bedside manner,” Arthur says. “I had a difficult time with my second chemo treatment, so he did some research, changed it and it made a great deal of difference.”
Arthur has had six chemotherapy treatments and her cancer is in remission. “I’m so thankful that I was able to get the treatment I needed, and that I still have my life,” she says. “I hope that by sharing my story, I can help at least one overcome cancer.”
For more information on cancer prevention and treatment available at Silver Cross Hospital, call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325). To schedule an appointment with Dr. Schilder, call Midwest Center for Hematology and Oncology at (815) 740-1400.