Great Care for Ovarian Cancer at Women's Cancer Center

Less than 10 days after Lane Baker was diagnosed with ovarian cancer she traveled from her home in Washington, DC, to Stanford for her first meeting with Jonathan Berek, MD, MMS, internationally-recognized expert in the research and treatment of gynecologic cancers.

"He came in and made it very clear to me he knew I was in charge," Baker said. "He said if I came to Stanford for treatment here's what he would do. He had built a treatment team and brought some of them with him that day. We weren't in that room very long before I said, 'Let's make this happen.'"

Berek already put certain things in place for her treatment before her appointment. "It made me feel very good about the care I was going to receive at Stanford," she said.

To say the diagnosis of ovarian cancer shocked her "would be an understatement," she said. For months, she'd noticed that no matter how much more she exercised and controlled what she ate, the bulge around her belly that had recently developed did not go away.

Baker, an athlete in high school, had spent most of her adult life outdoors, in the kind of physical activity demanded by her job as a National Park Service ranger. After more than 25 years in the field, she moved into an administrative post in Washington, DC, as chief of the National Park Service's (NPS) Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services. Even in a more desk-driven job, she still had to pass annual medical and physical fitness exams and, at 50, she was in far better shape than the average person her age.

"If there's any message I can give," Baker said, "it's that women should pay attention to their bodies. So many times we dismiss those bloated feelings as we age, or think we've just eaten too much or that it's part of our monthly cycle. The thing I've learned about ovarian cancer is that it can progress so far because we ignore the symptoms far too long.

After the diagnosis, her sister, who lives in the Bay Area, did some asking around and found Berek, head of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Stanford University School of Medicine since 2006, and now, director of the Stanford Women's Cancer Center.

He is also the author of 270 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 10 books. And, he is the chair and principal investigator for the Cooperative Ovarian Cancer Group—a working group of scientists from 39 institutions in the U.S. The Stanford Women's Cancer Center was something he championed.

The working principle at the Center, Berek said, is the powerful synergy of collaboration between a specialized, multidisciplinary team of oncologists expert in breast and gynecologic cancers; surgical, medical and radiation oncologists; anesthesiologists; gynecologic pathologist; and nurses, social workers and nutritionists who specialize in cancer care. One half of the combination will be clinical care augmented  with support services based on the needs particular to women, he said, "to help them live the best possible life during their course of treatment—to make every day count."

After surgery, Baker received 18 weeks of chemotherapy, following a lower-dose-more-frequent-dosing formula Berek told her would not knock her as flat as a shorter course of higher intensity chemotherapy. "He prepared me for what chemo would be like and I had very little nausea or fatigue because the team was very pro-active about that. I feel very lucky," Baker said.

Almost immediately after her treatment began, the biomarker of her cancer's activity began to drop and now indicates she is free of cancer.

Throughout her treatment, Berek was a grandfatherly touchstone, Baker said. "He always greeted me with a jovial smile and with some kind of warm touch, saying 'How are you doing?' He treated me like I was a patient who matters and that he wanted me to get well."