ACCC Recognizes Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September ushers in Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, a reminder for the cancer community and beyond to find new and innovative ways to prevent and treat ovarian cancer. This includes engaging individuals to learn about the symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is estimated to affect 19,710 people in the United States in 2023. It is ranked fifth in cancer deaths among women. That is more than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. However, cancer statistics show the rate of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer has been declining for the last 20 years.

Under the White House’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, President Biden has called upon the cancer community to work towards the goal of cutting the cancer death rate in half by 2047. In 2022, President Biden released a statement encouraging Americans to speak with their health care providers to learn more about ovarian cancer, and for providers to increase awareness of what can be done to detect and treat ovarian cancer.

What Is ACCC Doing?

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is working with partner organizations on an initiative titled, “Validating a Model of Ideal Advanced Ovarian Cancer Care Delivery Process Improvement Workshops.” Through this initiative, ACCC is conducting 5 quality improvement workshops to implement and validate the quality-of-care recommendations developed in the first phase of this work. ACCC will then study and measure the impact of the implemented recommendations at additional selected cancer programs.

This initiative seeks to address care coordination and communication within the multidisciplinary cancer care team by implementing practice improvement plans that address identified barriers and challenges in the care of ovarian cancer. The initiative will develop various materials (eg, webinars, blogs, infographics, and an article) to disseminate findings from quality improvement workshops.

ACCC has two upcoming opportunities for health care professionals to engage in quality improvement and care delivery discussions. Listen in as we hear from featured cancer programs including: Blavatnik Family Chelsea Medical Center at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Willis-Knighton Cancer Center, Shreveport, Louisiana; the Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii; and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

Join Us as ACCC Hosts an Ovarian Cancer Webinar Series in September

“From Process to Quality Improvement: Lessons Learned on Addressing Quality Care in Ovarian Cancer,” is scheduled for September 13, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT. Register here.

“Provision of High-Quality Ovarian Cancer Care Delivery,” is scheduled for September 27, 2023, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT. Register here.

ACCC has partnered with the following organizations on this initiative: the Association for Molecular Pathology, the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology.

The ACCC ovarian cancer program is supported by AstraZeneca.