Ovarian Cancer Survivors Invited to UAMS Retreat Sept. 24

By Holland Doran

Scheduled for 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 24, “Shout About the Disease that Whispers” will promote complementary and conventional approaches in the care of women with gynecological cancers. The retreat is hosted by the Just Among Women support group and is open to women with ovarian and other gynecological cancers and their support persons.
Advance registration is encouraged by Sept. 15 by calling the Cancer Institute’s Clinical Oncology Social Work Department at (501) 686-8145.

Cost to attend is $15 in advance or $20 at the door. A limited number of scholarships are available to those who qualify.

The retreat’s keynote address will be presented at 8:30 a.m. on “Bevacizumab in the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer: The New Wonder Drug” by Alexander F. Burnett, M.D., associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine and division director of the UAMS Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The lunch presentation on “Survivorship: From Diagnosis through Treatment and Recovery” will feature a panel discussion by cancer survivors.

Participants also will have the opportunity to attend breakout groups focusing on a variety of wellness issues.

Ovarian cancer ranks fifth as the cause of cancer death in women. According to the American Cancer Society, about 21,900 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2011 and about 15,460 women will die from it.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,836 students and 761 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.