Congress Considers Bill for Gynecological Cancer Awareness

Sept. 7, 2005 — -- When detected early, gynecological cancers have a 90 percent successful treatment rate. But when diagnosed later on, that rate drops to less than 50 percent.

Right now, Congress is considering Johanna's Law, which asks for $45 million for 2006 through 2008 to start a national public awareness campaign about gynecological cancer and demonstration projects that evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. The bill is named for Johanna Silver Gordon, a retired teacher who died of ovarian cancer five years ago.

Silver was diagnosed at an advanced stage and originally given only 12 to 18 months to survive. But she lived for three-and-a-half years and underwent four surgeries and multiple courses of chemotherapy.

"We really need women to be aware of the early warning signs and bring them to their doctor's attention," said Dr. Beth Karlan, president of Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, who will testify in support of the bill.

Karlan said if you experience the symptoms below persistently and progressively for as little as two weeks, you should seek medical attention and raise the topic of gynecological cancer:

"So many women ignore these symptoms and don't talk to their doctors about them," Karlan said. "Very few women think gynecological cancer when they have these symptoms."

Women should keep in mind that Pap smears only detect cervical cancer, and can't detect ovarian or uterine cancer, so women should have routine pelvic exams, she added.