A look at ethics in the treatment of women's cancer

Ethical concerns in the subspecialty of gynecologic oncology are worth singling out for several reasons: The malignancies treated in this field often are aggressive, recurrent and incurable. They frequently occur in young women, and their prevention and treatment entail radical surgeries and side effects that can alter the remainder of a woman’s life. The September issue of the AMA Journal of Ethics explores these concerns in depth.

The issue features:

“Advances in gynecologic oncology.” Radical surgeries and side effects from prevention and treatment measures can dramatically change the remainder of the patient’s life.
“Disclosing information about risk of inherited disease.” Physicians must balance the patient’s right to confidentiality against their obligation to “do no harm” when sharing patient’s genetic information could prevent harm to family members.
“The HPV vaccine: Overcoming barriers to acceptance of a medical triumph.” The concern that giving adolescents the HPV vaccine will encourage sexual promiscuity may contribute to low vaccination rates.

Help students learn more about this subspecialty

For medical students who are deciding on a specialty to pursue after graduation, AMA Wire® offers the “Shadow Me” Specialty Series, which gives honest advice, observations and resources from physicians in different specialties. If you are a gynecologic oncologist, send us an email to be considered for a potential feature in this series.

More ethics news

Current U.S. medical students have until Oct. 12 to submit their responses for the Journal of Ethics John Conley Ethics Essay Contest. The author of the best essay receives $5,000, and authors of up to three runner-up essays could receive $1,000 prizes. Winning essays are published in the AMA Journal of Ethics.