Gynecologic oncologists Angeles Alvarez Secord, MD, MHSc, and Emma Rossi, MD, members of the Duke Cancer Institute, were invited speakers at this week’s annual global meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society in Cape Town, South Africa.
Dr. Secord presented a plenary lecture titled "Predictive blood-based biomarkers in cervical cancer patients treated with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab: Results from GOG-0240,” evaluating biomarkers in cervical cancer. She received a NIH R21 grant for this research. Her poster on the RAINFOL-02 study also was showcased.
"We found that patients with high IL6 levels had an increased risk of disease progression and death. IL6 levels were not predictive for bevacizumab efficacy. We also identified other potential biomarkers that were associated with survival outcomes — ICAM1, PDGF-BB and TIMP1 that warrant further research," said Dr. Secord.
Dr. Rossi presented "Lymphadenectomy vs. Sentinel LND – To Do or Not To Do?" and discussed best practices for sentinel lymph node biopsy for endometrial cancer, as well as how to make this technology feasible for low and middle income countries.