Dr. Patricia Judson

Photography by John Wagner and Steve Henke

Patricia Judson, MD

Gynecological Oncology

Patricia Judson

University of Minnesota Medical Center Fairview

Medical School: University of Minnesota
Residency: University of California, San Francisco
Fellowship: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Family: Husband, two children
Home: Edina

Why did you choose this difficult field?
I initially chose obstetrics and gynecology because generally it is a happy field with healthy patients. I had always been interested in the genetic aspects of cancer and when my father was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, it clarified the significance of a skilled and compassionate oncologist.

How is gynecological oncology different from other fields?
Most patients have a surgical oncologist and a medical or radiation oncologist. In gynecologic oncology, we act as both the surgical and medical oncologist. Research has shown that survival of women is enhanced when gynecologic oncologists treat them. There’s also continuity for the patient through their treatment and remission phases.

What kinds of cancer do you treat?
Cervical, endometrial, ovarian, vulvar, vaginal, and fallopian-tube cancer. Of these, ovarian cancer is the most serious. Because the symptoms are very nonspecific, ovarian cancer is generally diagnosed at an advanced stage when treatment is difficult.

What causes these cancers?
An excess of estrogen, most commonly caused by obesity, usually causes endometrial cancer. Ovarian and vulvar cancer in the elderly are caused by genetic abnormalities. Cervical, vaginal, and vulvar cancers in young women are caused by the HPV [human papillomavirus].

How has the HPV vaccine changed cervical cancer rates?
It is too early to see the effect of the HPV vaccine on cervical cancer. However, the rates of pre-invasive cervical cancer have decreased dramatically. Only if the vaccine is mandated will we see an impact on cervical cancer rates because it’s the same women who get pap smears who get the vaccine.

Is it difficult to work with cancer patients?
It can be very difficult. You become very close to them and it hurts, but it’s just part of what you do. It’s better to love and to lose.