Gynecologic Oncologist Honored for National Advocacy

Lisa Landrum, M.D., Ph.D.

Gynecologic Oncologist Honored for National Advocacy

Gynecologic oncologist Lisa Landrum, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been honored for her national advocacy work on behalf of her patients with gynecologic cancers.

Landrum was presented the Ambassador Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. As one of two winners across the United States, Landrum was recognized for educating Oklahoma’s congressional delegation about several issues of great importance to women who are fighting gynecologic cancers and the physicians who treat them.

Landrum’s efforts began with a “Legislative Fly-In” organized by the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. Landrum joined her colleagues from around the nation in educating their congressional leaders and staff about several timely concerns. One was to encourage Oklahoma’s members of Congress to sponsor requests for more federal funding for gynecologic cancer clinical trials. In Oklahoma, gynecologic cancers affect a large number of women, and ovarian cancer is particularly difficult to treat.

Landrum also educated congressional members about a pending guideline within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Called “step therapy,” it is problematic for patients, especially those fighting cancer, she said. The plan would require doctors to prescribe the least expensive drugs first, then prove patients had failed those therapies before advancing to a different, more expensive drug that is known to be more effective.

“For example, I would be required to use cheaper anti-nausea medication first, knowing it would fail for my patients,” she said. “I understand that cost is a concern, but physicians have a significant amount of knowledge about which drugs a patient needs to manage nausea while undergoing specific chemotherapies. It’s cruel to make a patient take a less-effective drug. For some patients, their experience with chemo and nausea is so bad that they’re unwilling to even try again. That’s the kind of situations we risk encountering if physicians aren’t allowed to make the best choices for their patients.”