The Best Ovarian Cancer Treatment at St. Luke’s
Dr. David Silver performing
surgery for ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer accounts for more gynecologic cancer deaths than all other gynecologic cancers combined.
Early detection is difficult because ovarian cancer has...
- No early signs
- No specific symptoms
- No reliable screening test
The best treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is surgery to remove a visible tumor followed by chemotherapy. At St. Luke's, patients with advanced ovarian cancer have every opportunity to maximize their survival while maintaining their quality of life.
St. Luke’s Cancer Center has the leading surgery and chemotherapy treatments available for its patients. For instance, the use of chemotherapy directly into the abdomen, intraperitoneal chemotherapy, has been shown to improve survival rates for some patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
Learn about the St. Luke's Personalized Breast & Ovarian Health Program.
Featured Ovarian Cancer Treatments
At St. Luke’s Cancer Center, women with ovarian cancer have options that may maximize their survival while maintaining desired quality of life.
Cytoreductive Surgery
Advanced ovarian cancer is treated with a combination of aggressive cytoreductive surgery to remove, or debulk, the visible tumor followed by chemotherapy.
Intravenous (IV) and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC)
Intravenous (IV) and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IPC) options are available to patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Chemotherapy is administered directly to the cancer site with a catheter placed into the abdominal cavity. The catheter may be placed at the time of ovarian cancer-debulking surgery or after surgery as a separate procedure. Performed on an inpatient or outpatient basis, IPC literally bathes cancerous tissue with a powerful solution of cancer-fighting drugs.
Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemoperfusion (HIPEC)
Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemoperfusion (HIPEC) is an advanced treatment only available at select cancer centers nationwide, including St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, where cancer specialists are treating patients with abdominal cancers and ovarian cancer with both the HIPEC and Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (IPC) methods. HIPEC is done immediately following cancer surgery. During this treatment, chemotherapeutic agents are heated to 108 degrees Fahrenheit and circulated throughout the abdominal cavity for about 90 minutes so that cancerous tissue becomes even more sensitive, improving the effectiveness of the treatment. St. Luke’s Hospital is one of very few centers to offer HIPEC.
- Fellowship trained and board certified in gynecologic oncology
- Medical degree, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA
- Residency, The Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD
- Fellowship, Roswell Park Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY
- Additional training in radical pelvic tumor resection, Leipzig, Germany
- Additional training in advanced gynecologic laparoscopy, Las Vegas, Nevada
More about Dr. Silver