Gynecologic Disease Center
More than 80,000 women are diagnosed each year with gynecologic malignancies.
Gynecologic cancers (ovarian, uterine and cervical) comprise the fourth most common cancers among American women. The Gynecologic Disease Center (GDC) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), led by Lieutenant Colonel G. Larry Maxwell, M.D., seeks to improve prevention, detection and treatment for women with gynecologic diseases. GDC encompasses the Gynecological Cancer Center for Racial Disparities and the Gynecologic Disease Program (GDP).
New Approaches to Women's Cancers
GDP is a state-of-the-art clinical and basic science research program aimed at improving health outcomes for patients with gynecologic disease. Using microarrays, proteomics analysis and other cutting-edge laboratory technologies, the group is working to identify molecular alterations associated with different gynecologic cancers. They hope to use this information, along with epidemiologic data, to develop novel chemopreventive and therapeutic strategies.
Program researchers also are developing new technologies in imaging, image-guided robotics, gene therapy and minimally invasive interventional radiology. These innovations will be clinically evaluated in patients with benign and malignant gynecologic tumors.
Collecting Data for Future Study
A key component of this project involves tissue and data acquisition for research studies. Center staff collect comprehensive epidemiologic data on each participant, including information on hormone exposure, menstrual history and racial disparity, in addition to demographic, clinical and pathologic data.
The Gynecologic Disease Program is a collaborative research program involving WRAMC, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Windber Research Institute, Georgetown University Medical Center and HJF.
The Gynecologic Disease Program is a collaborative research program involving WRAMC, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Windber Research Institute, Georgetown University Medical Center and HJF.
The Gynecological Cancer Center for Racial Disparities works to identify the reasons for poor outcomes in minority patients with gynecologic cancer. Program staff hope to improve overall patient care by creating tailored education, screening, prevention and treatment programs. This project is a collaboration between the Ohio State University Cancer Center and HJF.
For more information, please visit www.gyndiseasecenter.org