Dr. Richard Moore has been an ovarian cancer researcher at
Women & Infants Hospital for years.
His research has helped come up with a way to predict
whether an ovarian mass is cancerous.
He said he's not surprised by a new study that found of the
22,000 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, two out of three are not
getting the best treatment possible.
"I think some of the problem is education for the
woman, knowing that there are centers that specialize in ovarian cancer and
doctors that are specially trained to take care of patients with ovarian cancer
and educating those patients to make sure they find their way to the right
physicians and the right institutions," Moore said.
Moore said that gynecologic oncologists, of which he is one,
spend an extra four years training. And they treat hundreds of patients, not
just a handful.
"It's very complex for ovarian cancer. It's evolved
over the years and physicians that have high volumes treat large numbers of
patients a year have much more experience in taking care of this cancer. It's
really come down to a science and an art," Moore said.
The new study, which has been submitted to a medical journal
but not yet published, was based on medical records of more than 13,000 women
with the disease in California over a seven-year period.
Moore says getting the proper treatment can prolong life not
months, but even years.
