Gynecologic Oncologists See Less Than Half of All Patients With Ovarian Cancer.

NASHVILLE, TENN. -- Less than half of all ovarian cancer patients in Utah are seen by a gynecologic oncologist.

And access to specialist care is particularly poor for women under 40 and over 70 years of age, Dr. Michael Carney said during the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

"This is concerning because we know that patients with advanced disease who see a gynecologic oncologist survive longer than those who see general ob.gyns or general surgeons--26 months vs. 17 months," he told this newspaper.

Although Dr. Carney acknowledged that Utah is not demographically consistent with the general U.S. population, the age at which women are diagnosed and the stage of their disease at diagnosis are very similar to that of women across the country, making his study generalizable nationwide, he said.

The study found that gynecologic oncologists saw 39% of the 848 ovarian cancer patients identified in the Utah Cancer Registry from 1992 to 1998. During the study period, the percentage of cases seen by a specialist increased from 33% in 1992-93 to 48% in 1997-98.

Of those under age 40 years, 36% were seen by a gynecologic oncologist; that number dropped to 24% among those over age 70.

"Ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose initially. There are a lot of GI symptoms such as pain and distension that end up delaying the diagnosis for some period of time," said Dr. Carney of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.