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Ovarian Cancer Care

When you’re a patient at Swedish, we don’t just treat your ovarian cancer – we treat you. We use the most advanced treatments to create a highly personalized care plan. We also support you and your loved ones with a full range of services throughout your entire cancer journey. The result is effective, whole-person care for your body, mind and spirit.


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Phone: 206-991-2000

Why Choose Us for Ovarian Cancer Care?

At Swedish, we see the life in you. Together, let’s finish cancer – so you don’t have to miss any of life’s special moments.

All ovarian-cancer patients at Swedish benefit from a multidisciplinary approach to care that encompasses leading-edge imaging techniques, the latest in treatment options, a robust platform of clinical trials, and a full selection of high-quality support services. Our multidisciplinary care teams meet regularly to share information and discuss patient cases, in order to determine an integrated course of care for each person.

At the Swedish Cancer Institute, women with ovarian cancer, as well as those with uterine and cervical cancer, receive care through a nationally-recognized gynecological cancer program – the fourth-highest volume ovarian cancer center in the United States. This includes the expertise of a renowned team of physicians and other specialists. If surgery is required, our world-class gynecologic surgeons use the most advanced techniques when treating your ovarian cancer. It’s a team-based approach to ovarian cancer care. Your care team may also include oncology nurse navigators, physical therapists and other cancer specialists. We also provide you and your family with a full range of support services well beyond conventional treatment – from genetic counseling and education to nutrition and pain management.

Learn more about the experts who make up our multidisciplinary cancer care teams.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but access to great ovarian cancer care hasn’t always been the same for everyone. At Swedish, we are deeply committed to making sure every patient we treat has access to the best cancer care. We offer various location-specific services to help our patients receive equitable care, such as translation for non-English-speaking patients, telehealth and transportation assistance. We value, respect and support the racial, ethnic, religious, spiritual, gender, and sexual identities of each member of our diverse communities, and we welcome all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. We aim to make sure every patient is treated equally and with dignity – whoever you are, and wherever you’re at.

Swedish is one of the founders of the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research, which is dedicated to saving lives and reducing suffering through improved treatment, early detection and prevention of ovarian cancer.

Our ovarian cancer research team is highly involved in advancing our field in both early detection of ovarian cancer and offering newer progressive treatments for the disease. In the most recent worldwide trial of ovarian cancer (The FIRST Study/ENGOT-OV44), Swedish Cancer Institute was the 6th highest enrolling site in the world of 197 sites overall. Our commitment to affording patients the potential advantages of novel treatment paradigms is evidenced in our large number of clinical trials for ovarian cancer, including studies evaluating ovarian cancer tissue to develop newer therapies, investigating new techniques that may lead to earlier detection of ovarian cancer (uterine lavage), as well as active treatment trials which are evaluating a variety of active biologic agents to hopefully improve outcomes and change the landscape of this disease.

About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is a type of gynecologic cancer that forms in the cells of the ovaries, where females produce eggs. The expert oncology teams at Swedish use the most effective therapies to treat patients with every type of ovarian cancer and its related conditions.

Testing and Diagnostics

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Diagnostic tools help our cancer clinicians determine which therapies will work best for each patient, based on many factors like cancer type and the genetic or molecular profile of the tumor. Your doctors will use multiple advanced diagnostic and prognostic tools to help design your individualized treatment plan. Depending on your case, this may include one or more of the following:

Personalized Treatment for Ovarian Cancer

We take a team approach to your ovarian cancer treatment because we know this offers the best success in controlling and curing cancer. Your multidisciplinary cancer care team will work with you to design an individualized cancer care plan, from diagnosis to post-treatment support. We offer many different therapies across our Swedish locations. Depending on your condition, your personal care plan may include one or more of the following:

Systemic therapies travel through the bloodstream and affect cells in other body parts. They are used for patients whose cancer has spread to other areas of the body or if there’s a high risk of spread. Sophisticated genetic analysis allows us to target therapies to specific DNA mutations that cause cancer cells to develop and grow. Systemic therapies include:

Chemotherapy is the systemic use of cytotoxic chemicals to kill cancer cells. Today there are many medications (e.g., biological medications, immune treatments, targeted therapies) that do not fit the classic definition of chemotherapy yet are often included in this category.

Clinical trials represent research protocols that include the use of new drugs or drug combinations in a specific clinical situation.

Hormone therapy is the use of drugs that inhibit the production or block the effect of certain hormones (usually sex hormones), helping to control cancer-cell growth.

Immunotherapy uses drugs to allow the body’s own immune system to more effectively find and destroy cancer cells.

Molecularly targeted therapy is the use of drugs that are molecularly targeted at a genetic mutation that has allowed the cancer to grow. This therapy enables personalized treatments for patients who carry certain genetic mutations or abnormalities.

Surgical therapies involve an operation or procedure to remove cancer from the body. Surgery may be the main treatment for some invasive cancers, but it’s only one part of the entire treatment plan. Surgical therapies include:

Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is surgical removal of the ovaries and the fallopian tubes.

Hysterectomy is surgical removal of the uterus.

Pelvic exenteration is surgical removal of the lower colon, bladder and rectum. In women, the cervix, vagina, ovaries and surrounding lymph nodes may also be removed.

 

Radical hysterectomy is surgical removal of the uterus, cervix and part of the vagina. In some cases, the surgeon may also remove the fallopian tubes and the ovaries, as well as nearby lymph nodes.

Partial and complete radical vulvectomy is surgical removal of the vulva, consisting of the vaginal lips, the clitoris and the vaginal opening. Nearby lymph nodes are sometimes also removed.

Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLN) is the surgical removal of groups of lymph nodes in the abdomen. The nodes are then checked for the presence of cancer cells.

Sentinel node dissection groin lymphadenectomy is surgical removal of lymph nodes near the groin. Tissue can then be tested for the presence of cancer cells.

Trachelectomy (fertility-sparing surgery) is surgical removal of the cervix. The surgeon may also remove part of the vagina and nearby lymph nodes.

Vaginectomy with reconstruction is surgery to remove and reconstruct some or all of the vagina.

Ovarian wide local excision is surgical removal of an ovarian tumor or lesion and the surrounding tissue.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation from a source like X-rays or photons to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors. It may be part of a treatment plan that also includes systemic therapies and/or surgery. Radiation is sometimes used to help ease a patient’s pain or discomfort. Radiation therapies include:

Image-guided radiation therapy delivers high-dose radiation, guided by imaging, directly to the tumors.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) are advanced types of radiation therapies. IMRT uses advanced technology to manipulate the radiation beams to conform to the shape of a tumor. VMAT is a subtype of IMRT in which the machine actively delivers radiation beams while moving in an arc around the patient.

This method of radiation delivery offers next-generation capabilities. The arc-based therapy provided via VMAT delivers high doses of radiation to more focused areas, reducing side effects and the overall treatment time for the patient. This treatment is particularly effective at treating several types of cancer while at the same time reducing toxicity and harm to vital organs.

This procedure is one of several new ways to deliver radiation therapy. It requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians. It is available at some Swedish locations.

Stereotactic radiation (SABR/SBRT) is a group of treatments that includes stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and stereotactic ablative radiation (SABR) – both of which are adaptations of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) – for the treatment of targets in the body, but outside the brain. Similar to SRS, these techniques deliver very high doses of radiation using sophisticated motion management and patient immobilization techniques.

The number of radiation treatments is minimal and may range from one to five treatments delivered over one to two weeks.

This procedure is one of several new ways to deliver radiation therapy. It requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians. It is available at some Swedish locations.

Surface-guided radiation therapy (SGRT/SIGRT) is an approach to radiation targeting that offers real-time beam guidance from face and body surface-recognition systems.

This treatment is particularly effective at treating several types of cancer while at the same time reducing toxicity and harm to vital organs, thus minimizing side effects.

This advanced procedure requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians. It is available at some Swedish locations.

Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) is a radiation planning and treatment technique in which three-dimensional (3D) imaging enables improved targeting for radiation treatment. 3D planning with CT imaging makes radiation treatment much more conformal, or tailored to the target.

Additional therapies may also be part of the treatment plan for a small number of patients. These may include:

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC) is a complex treatment in which heated chemotherapy is delivered into the abdomen through catheters following extensive surgical removal (debulking) of a tumor in the abdomen.

Some cancers can spread diffusely throughout the abdomen. By combining surgery with the direct application of chemotherapy, this two-step procedure is highly effective at treating cancers that have spread beyond their organ of origin.

This advanced procedure requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians. It is available at some Swedish locations.

The High-Risk Breast and Ovarian Cancer Program is dedicated to identifying individuals who are at high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer due to family, medical or personal health history. Our goal is to develop and implement a personalized risk-reduction and screening plan for each patient.

Watch a video to learn about the program and what you can expect if you have concerns about being at high-risk for breast or ovarian cancer.

What we offer
  • Comprehensive clinical evaluation
  • Cancer risk assessment and health education
  • Personal plan for risk reduction, high-risk surveillance and management
  • Genetic testing for hereditary predisposition to cancer

Find Ovarian Cancer Care Close to You

Accreditations

We are proud to see our dedication to our cancer patients recognized by some of the most well-respected programs and institutions in the United States. Several of our Swedish locations have achieved the following accreditations:

Meet the Team

At Swedish, you'll have access to a vast network of dedicated and compassionate providers who offer personalized care by focusing on treatment, prevention and health education.

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Find Clinical Trials

Are you looking for a clinical trial for yourself or for a patient? We’d love to help you find one!