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Grant to help Vt doctors learn more about ovarian cancer

Burlington, Vermont - September 9, 2011

Vermont doctors will be learning a lot more about the subtle signs of ovarian cancer thanks to a $90,000 grant from the Mary Haas Foundation.

Mary Haas was a longtime Vermont resident who died of ovarian cancer two years ago, and like most patients, she was diagnosed at a late stage, which made her chances for survival slim to nothing.

Ovarian cancer is often called the silent killer because its symptoms of bloatedness, fatigue and loss of appetite are vague. So the grant to Fletcher Allen Health Care will be used to educate the state's primary care providers.

Meredith Burak of the Mary Haas Foundation is Mary Haas' daughter.

"With Fletcher Allen in Vermont we're trying to launch a grassroots, statewide early detection program which would educate primary care physicians about ovarian cancer. How to identify patients at risk, how to talk to their patients who are at risk and provide them with the resources so they can be more proactive about their own health care," Burak said.

"We don't have any great screening tests so we have to be really aware of the subtle clues. The primary care providers are in a really good position to do that because they get to know their patients very well. They have a long history of working with their patients so they're much more attuned to listening to some of the issues that are new or different," said Dr. Allyson Bolduc of FAHC Primary Care.

The Mary Haas Early Detection Foundation was Mary Haas' last wish. The nonprofit also funds ovarian cancer research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Bridget Barry Caswell - WCAX News