Foods That Fight Gynecologic Cancer

The World Cancer Research Fund, along with the American Institute for Cancer Research, analyzed research on nutrition and its role in cancer, and published the “Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective."

The recommendations for the general public are as follows:

• Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight.
• Be physically active as part of everyday life.
• Limit consumption of energy-dense foods.
• Avoid sugary drinks.
• Eat mostly foods of plant origin.
• Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.
• Limit alcoholic drinks.
• Limit consumption of salt.
• Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone.

Their report analyzes the evidence by cancer type including three gynecological cancers.

Nutrition to Prevent Cervical Cancer

Specific to cervical cancer, there is some evidence that an intake of carrots may protect again cervical cancer.  According to the American Institute for Cancer Research “The evidence, from case-control studies only, is sparse but consistent.  There is limited evidence suggesting that carrots protect against cervical cancer.”

Additional sources of produce high in carotenoids include:

• Sweet potatoes
• Spinach
• Kale and other greens
• Papaya
• Oranges
• Sweet peppers
• Tomatoes

Nutrition to Prevent Ovarian Cancer

For ovarian cancer, evidence suggests that consuming these non-starchy vegetables may decrease the risk of ovarian cancer:

• Asparagus
• Carrots
• Tomatoes
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli

Nutrition to Prevent Endometrial (Uterine) Cancer

For endometrial cancer, a high percentage of body fat as well as weight gain in the adult years may increase the risk of endometrial cancer.

So clearly at the top on your priority is weight management - and just as your mother said “eat your vegetables."

The two work hand in hand as well as vegetables are a very high fiber, low calorie food which can provide cancer fighting compounds and assist with the feeling of fullness.  Some easy ways to incorporate vegetables in your diet are:

• Breakfast: Top your cereal off with berries or make a spinach omelet.
• Lunch: Layer sandwiches with greens, tomatoes and cucumber.  Have raw vegetables on the side instead of chips.
• Dinner: always include a colorful salad and aim to fill half your dinner plate with non-starchy vegetables like steamed asparagus, broccoli and carrots.
• Snacks: Try baby carrots, sugar snaps peas and sliced red peppers dipped into hummus.

Continue to follow this blog for more recipes with cancer-fighting properties.

Debra DeMille, MS, RD, CSO, is a nutritional counselor at the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine Pennsylvania Hospital. Dietitians at the Abramson Cancer Center provide educational programs about nutrition that are open to patients as well as the community. Cancer-fighting recipes on this blog are the product of the quarterly series "Cooking Nutritious and Delicious Foods," which promotes seasonal healthy foods with cancer-fighting properties.

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Cervical Cancer Awareness Month: HPV and its Link to Cervical Cancer

January is cervical cancer awareness month.

According to National Cancer Institute, there were more than 12,000 women who received a cervical cancer diagnosis last year.

About half of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer are between the ages of 35 and 55. The majority of cases are caused by exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease. HPV affects up to 80 percent of females and males in their lifetime. Many cases of HPV clear on their own, but certain types of HPV can cause cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer in females.

Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, the narrow outer end of the uterus that extends into the vagina. When diagnosed early, cervical cancer is generally curable and patients have an excellent chance of recovery. Penn Medicine physicians and scientists are working together to develop new ways to diagnose and treat cervical cancer.

Preventing HPV

Vaccines are now available that protect against four major types of HPV, including the two types that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases as well as the two types that cause about 90 percent of genital warts.

The HPV vaccine is expected to be long-lasting, but because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV types that cause cervical cancer, vaccinated women still need cervical cancer screening (Pap tests and HPV tests). The vaccine does prevent HPV, but does not protect against HPV exposure before vaccination. The HPV vaccine is not a cure for HPV.

Condoms do not protect completely against HPV because they don't cover all of the potential HPV-infected areas of the body. However, condoms do provide some protection against HPV, and they protect against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Although penetrative intercourse is not necessary to get and spread HPV women can do the following to decrease their risk of cervical cancer:

• Stay up-to-date with recommended paps and exams.
• Avoid smoking
• Avoid early onset of sexual activity and sexual activity with people who have had several sexual partners.
• Use condoms
• Try to maintain a healthy immune system
• Limit the amount of sexual partners

Women may avoid HPV, and therefore prevent cervical cancer, by waiting to have sex until they are older and limiting the number of sexual partners. They should also avoid having sex with anyone who has had multiple sexual partners.

Learn more about cervical cancer treatment at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Learn more about the Jordan Center for Gynecologic Cancer.

Learn more about the MacDonald Women’s Cancer Risk Evaluation Center.

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The Saracini Family’s Own Miracle on 34th Street

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the world became a very different place. For Ellen Saracini and her daughters, the events changed the course of their lives forever. Ellen’s husband Victor Saracini was the pilot of United Airlines Flight 175, the plane that flew into the second tower of the World Trade Center.

After that day, Ellen’s priority was helping her family heal, not her own personal health and well-being, and she went 10 years without an annual gynecologic exam.

It wasn’t until a close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer that she was inspired to regain control of her personal health. Ellen watched her friend struggle through her treatments and promised that she would schedule her gynecology appointment in her honor. While Ellen’s mammogram came back normal, her pap test did not, and further biopsy showed pre-cancerous cells in her cervix.

When thinking of where she would receive surgical expertise to treat her cancer, the only place she thought of was Penn. “I wanted to fight this cancer with all I had. My family has already experienced so much loss, and I knew I needed to see the best – the best was at the Abramson Cancer Center.”

Ellen found herself in the hands of gynecologic oncologist, Janos L. Tanyi, MD, PhD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, and immediately felt comfortable. He was responsive and compassionate; he gave her the utmost confidence when he said “I am going to get you cancer free.” And, Dr. Tanyi stayed true to his word.

Ellen’s surgical procedure did in fact show that she had cervical cancer, and Dr. Tanyi performed a radical hysterectomy. When she went in for follow up scans, what Ellen remembers most vividly was hearing the words, “cancer free.” After losing her husband, Ellen was extremely grateful her daughters wouldn’t have to fear losing their mother as well.

Little did she know, she was about to be faced with the prospect of losing her daughter.

In 2013, Ellen’s daughter graduated from Boston College and started her first job. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Ellen and her family again found themselves at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. After eight rounds of chemotherapy, Ellen’s daughter also heard the words, “cancer free.”

For those unfamiliar with the geography of Penn Medicine, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, home of the Abramson Cancer Center, are located along 34th Street. After celebrating her own cancer-free diagnosis, and then hearing of her daughter’s, Ellen said this holiday season she and her family are celebrating their own, “Miracle on 34th Street!”

The message that Ellen wants to convey to others through her story is the importance of paying attention to one’s health. If she hadn’t gone in for her screenings, she may have caught her cervical cancer much later when it possibly wasn’t curable or when she may have needed a much different therapy strategy.

“It is important to take care of yourself – if not for you – then for your family, Ellen said. “Early detection and screening mechanisms saved my life, and gave my girls more time with their mother.”

For more information on how to support gynecological cancer research and patient care please contact Laura Ferraiolo by email lferr@upenn.edu or phone (215) 746-2948, or click here to make a gift.

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HPV and Cervical Cancer

Vaccines are now available that protect against four major types of HPV, including the two types that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and two types that cause about 90 percent of genital warts.

The HPV vaccine is expected to be long-lasting, but because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV types that cause cervical cancer vaccinated women still need cervical cancer screening (Pap tests and HPV tests). The vaccine does prevent HPV, but does not protect against HPV exposure before vaccination. The HPV vaccine is not a cure for HPV.

Condoms do not protect completely against HPV because they don't cover all of the potential HPV-infected areas of the body. However, condoms do provide some protection against HPV, and they protect against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Although penetrative intercourse is not necessary to get and spread HPV women can do the following to decrease their risk of cervical cancer:

• Stay up-to-date with recommended paps and exams.
• Avoid smoking
• Avoid early onset of sexual activity and sexual activity with people who have had several sexual partners.
• Use condoms
• Try to maintain a healthy immune system
• Limit the amount of sexual partners

Women may avoid HPV, and therefore prevent cervical cancer, by waiting to have sex until they are older and limiting the number of sexual partners. They should also avoid having sex with anyone who has had multiple sexual partners.

Learn more about cervical cancer treatment at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Learn more about the Jordan Center for Gynecologic Cancer.

Learn more about the MacDonald Women’s Cancer Risk Evaluation Center.

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Cervical Cancer Awareness: What is a Colposcopy?

January is cervical cancer awareness month. In this blog post, we discuss "What is a colposcopy?" and why a colposcopy may be performed.

What is a colposcopy?

For women with a history of abnormal pap tests, a colposcopy may be performed to determine the cause of the abnormal test.

A colposcopy is an in-office procedure in which your doctor uses a special magnifying device to look at your vulva, vagina, and cervix.

During the colposcopy, your doctor may take a sample of the cervix or from the inside of the opening of the cervix. This is called a biopsy, and it will be looked at under a microscope to determine if the cells are cancerous.

Why get a colposcopy?

There are a few reasons your doctor may perform a colposcopy. 

He or she may look at the cervix for problem areas when a Pap test was abnormal. If an area of abnormal tissue is found during colposcopy, a cervical biopsy or a biopsy from inside the opening of the cervix (endocervical canal) is usually done.

A colposcopy may be used to check a sore or other problem (such as genital warts) found on or around the vagina and cervix.

Finally, he or she may use a colposcopy to look at the cervix for problem areas if an HPV test shows a high-risk type of HPV is present.

Meet Cervical Cancer Specialists at Penn

Learn more about cervical cancer, and cervical cancer treatment at Penn.

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About A Cervical Cancer Diagnosis

January is cervical cancer awareness month.

According to National Cancer Institute, there were more than 12,000 women who received a cervical cancer diagnosis last year. Cervical cancer develops in the cervix, the narrow outer end of the uterus that extends into the vagina. When diagnosed early, cervical cancer is generally curable and patients have an excellent chance of recovery. Penn Medicine physicians and scientists are working together to develop new ways to diagnose and treat cervical cancer.

Types of Cervical Cancer

There are two types of cervical cancer:

• Squamous cell carcinoma. The most common type of cervical cancer consisting of flat, thin cells called squamous cells that cover the surface of the cervix.
• Adenocarcinoma. Develops in the mucus-producing glands of the endocervix or opening to the uterus.

About a Cervical Cancer Diagnosis

Women with early cervical cancers and pre-cancers usually have no symptoms. Symptoms often do not begin until the cancer becomes invasive and grows into nearby tissue. When this happens, the most common symptoms are:

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding, such as bleeding after sex (vaginal intercourse), bleeding after menopause, bleeding and spotting between periods, and having (menstrual) periods that are longer or heavier than usual. Bleeding after douching or after a pelvic exam may also occur.
• An unusual discharge from the vagina -- the discharge may contain some blood and may occur between your periods or after menopause.
• Pain during intercourse.

A cervical cancer diagnosis can only be made after a biopsy. If a biopsy shows that cancer is present, your doctor may order certain tests to see how far the cancer has spread.

Staging Cervical Cancer

In order to guide treatment and offer some insight into prognosis, cervical cancer is staged into different groups. There are a few different staging systems, but the most popular one for cervical cancer is the FIGO system (International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians). The FIGO system is a clinical staging system which means that the cancer is staged by a doctor's physical examination and the results of a biopsy. The FIGO staging system is for invasive cervical cancers, not pre-cancerous lesions.

A simplified version of the FIGO staging system is:

Stage IA - microscopic cancer confined to the cervix
Stage IB - cancer visible by the naked eye confined to the cervix
Stage II - cervical cancer invading beyond the uterus but not to the pelvic wall or lower 1/3 of the vagina
Stage III - cervical cancer invading to the pelvic wall and/or lower 1/3 of the vagina and/or causing a non-functioning kidney
Stage IVA - cervical cancer that invades the bladder or rectum, or extends beyond the pelvis
Stage IVB - distant metastases (spread to other areas of the body such as the lung or liver)

Cervical Cancer and HPV

About half of the women diagnosed with cervical cancer are between the ages of 35 and 55. The majority of cases are caused by exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease. HPV affects up to 80 percent of females and males in their lifetime. Many cases of HPV clear on their own, but certain types of HPV can cause cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancer in females.

Cervical cancer treatment at Penn Medicine is provided by the Jordan Center for Gynecologic Cancers. As part of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, the Jordan Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to care, combining the expertise of Abramson Cancer physicians and scientists from the Penn’s division of gynecologic oncology, the Joan Karnell Cancer Center and the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center.

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