Gynecologic Cancer Care

When you’re a patient at Swedish, we don’t just treat your gynecologic 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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Why Choose Us for Gynecologic 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.

No two patients, or their treatment plans, are alike. This is why, at Swedish, we take a highly personalized approach to your gynecologic cancer care. You’ll experience this through our multidisciplinary tumor boards, where your oncology team collaborates with other cancer care experts about your specific diagnosis. We also offer a Molecular Tumor Board, where we evaluate your genomic and clinical information to find the best genetically matched treatment for you. Your oncology team will work with you directly to design a treatment plan that fits your personal needs. It’s an approach that combines leading-edge treatment with the compassionate care Swedish is known for. Why? Because we know this results in the best outcomes.

The Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI) offers women with gynecological cancers – whether it is cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal or vulvar – access to a comprehensive, multidisciplinary team of experts with a long-standing track record of success. This team includes medical, surgical and radiation oncologists, along with a full complement of genetic counselors, physiatrists, physical therapists, pharmacists, infusion therapists, nutritionists, social workers and patient educators. Exceptional outcomes that are achieved by this type of multidisciplinary team support the importance of gynecologic oncology experts diagnosing, staging and treating women with these cancers, and underscore the critical role gynecologic oncologists play in coordinating all aspects of care and recovery.

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

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but access to great gynecologic 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.

At any given time, the Swedish Cancer Institute offers patients more than 140 clinical-research studies involving most types of cancers. Clinical trials give patients access to promising new medications and procedures before they are widely available. Such trials are also the primary way that progress is made in finding better approaches to treatment and cure. Additionally, our physician specialists collaborate with other regional and national research groups, including Southwest Oncology Group, National Cancer Institute, Puget Sound Oncology Consortium and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

About Gynecologic Cancer

Gynecologic cancers are cancers of the female reproductive organs, including the ovaries, cervix and uterus. The expert oncology teams at Providence use the most effective therapies to treat patients with every type of gynecologic cancer and its related conditions, including:

Vulvar cancer
Endometrial cancer
Cervical cancer
Ovarian cancer
Abdominal carcinomatosis
Uterine cancer

Testing and Diagnostics

Personalized Treatment for Gynecologic Cancer

We take a team approach to your gynecologic 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 Surgical Therapies Radiation Therapies

Systemic Therapies

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

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.

Gynecologic wide local excision is surgical removal of a gynecologic tumor or lesion and the surrounding tissue.

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

Radiation Therapies

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:

Brachytherapy is an approach to delivering radiation treatment from a source implanted inside the body. These sources may be placed either permanently or temporarily at the tumor site.

By delivering radiation directly into a tumor, this technique spares the surrounding normal tissue any exposure to radiation and the side effects that it may bring.

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

Interstitial high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a specialized brachytherapy technique in which rapidly emitting radiation sources are placed briefly inside the body through a needle catheter to irradiate the target tumor.

By delivering high-dose radiation directly into a tumor, this technique can reduce the number of treatments needed for a patient. The surrounding normal tissue is spared exposure to radiation and the side effects that it may bring.

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

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.

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.

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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: