UCI Health women's cancer specialist honored for ovarian cancer research
February 04, 2015
UCI Health surgeon Ramez N. Eskander, MD, has been awarded the 2015 Presidential Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology for his findings about surgeons' assessment of residual cancer following ovarian cancer surgery.
Formally known as the John L. Lewis, Jr., MD Presidential Award, this honor is in recognition of the Most Outstanding Oral Plenary Presentation at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology held on March 28-31, 2015. SGO is the world’s premier meeting for research on women's cancer.
Eskander’s abstract, Correlation between surgeon’s assessment of residual disease and findings on postoperative pre-treatment computed tomography scan in women with advanced stage ovarian cancer reported to have undergone optimal cytoreduction: An NRG Oncology/GOG study, was selected by the members of the SGO Annual Meeting Program Committee acknowledging the presentation of scientific data that has a direct impact on the care and treatment of women’s cancers.
“Our focus was to determine whether surgeons reliably assess the amount of tumor remaining after cytoreduction surgery for ovarian cancer,” says Eskander, assistant clinical professor, University of California, Irvine Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. “This is important because an accurate assessment may impact post-surgical treatment. We found that in 40 percent of the cases, the surgeon's assessment of residual tumor at completion of surgery conflicted with that seen on post-operative imaging.”
Noting the complexity of ovarian cancer surgery, also known as debulking, Eskander hopes these findings will lead to further investigation regarding objective documentation of residual disease.
Eskander is the third member of the UC Irvine gynecologic oncology faculty to receive the Presidential Award in the past four years. In 2012, Robert E. Bristow, MD, MBA, was recognized for his research into racial and economic disparities in access to ovarian cancer care and survival. Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, received the award in 2013 for his findings that combining bevacizumab with chemotherapy prolongs survival in advanced cervical cancer.
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