GCF BULLETIN

Women's Cancer Network Website Provides Patient Information

Patients can now receive information about gynecologic cancer through their home computers, thanks to the Women's Cancer Network Home Page.

The website, which offers consumers several resources for cancer information, is located at: /www.wcn.org.

Among the items included on the home page are news stories about women's cancer, tips on fighting cancer, general gynecological cancer information, an interactive survey to determine cancer risk, a guide to finding a gynecologic cancer specialist as well as links to other women's cancer-related sites.

The Women's Cancer Network is an interactive Internet site dedicated to informing women around the world about cancer. For women who have developed cancer, this site will help them and their families understand more about the disease, learn about treatment options, and gain access to new or experimental therapies. This site also will assist women in finding an appropriate cancer treatment specialist in their area.

The Women's Cancer Network also has as its mission, educating women on how to avoid developing cancer. The Women's Cancer Network offers a confidential risk-assessment questionnaire designed to give a woman a personalized understanding of what her risks are for developing cancer. Following completion of the questionnaire, a detailed plan for lowering cancer risk is presented.

The Informatics Committee of the SGO has led the development of the Women's Cancer Network under the direction of Drs. Mitchell Morris and Ivor Benjamin.

Contributors to the site include: Ronald Alvarez, MD, Ivor Benjamin, MD, Andrew Berchuck, MD, Jonathan Berek, MD, Beth Karlan, MD, Charles Levenback, MD, John L. Lewis, Jr., MD, Mitchell Morris, MD, and Carolyn Runowicz, MD.

The site will be live on the Internet in July 1997.

The Women's Cancer Network Project has been funded through an unrestricted educational grant to the Gyneco-logic Cancer Foundation from from Smith Kline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.