Women’s Wellness Clinic at Fred Hutch offers patients specialized support

What is the Women’s Wellness Clinic at Fred Hutch?

The Women’s Wellness Clinic was started almost 20 years ago at Fred Hutch Cancer Center (then Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) under former Director of Breast Medical Oncology Julie Gralow, MD. Located on Level E of the Arnold Building and housed within the Wellness Center, it served as the first long-term survivorship clinic for solid tumors at the organization.

After Gralow left Fred Hutch to become Chief Medical Officer of ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology), Rachel Yung, MD, a Fred Hutch medical oncologist and breast cancer specialist, took over as director. She has led the Wellness Clinic for the past eight years. In addition to Yung, the clinic is staffed by a team of experts who focus on breast and ovarian cancers and have a deep knowledge of genetics.

The clinic offers wellness-focused follow-up care for women who have completed cancer treatment for breast cancer. They also monitor women at increased risk for developing breast cancer.

Typically, after treatment for a solid tumor like breast cancer, patients will be followed closely by their care team for five years. After that, breast cancer patients have access to the Women’s Wellness Clinic. After five years there, many patients are ready to ‘graduate’ from the clinic, according to Yung.

But the clinic will follow all young patients for as long as it takes, Yung said.

“They have to navigate so much — fertility, early-onset menopausal symptoms — we want to support them through these critical years,” she said. “We also follow high-risk patients for longer to make sure they are watched closely.”

A collaborative relationship

“The clinic collaborates with the main Survivorship Clinic, High-Risk Surveillance Clinic, radiology and genetics,” Yung said, referencing the other specialty clinics Fred Hutch operates. “We see both breast cancer survivors and “previvors” — those who have not had cancer but have a gene mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 that puts them at higher risk of developing cancer in the future.”

Besides screenings and individualized prevention plans, the goal of the clinic is to constantly improve care. It is one of several disease-specific survivorship clinics at Fred Hutch.

The Women’s Wellness Clinic also provides resources and information for patients, including info on current Fred Hutch clinical trials. The team highlights opportunities for patients who want to join a trial and follows up with patients currently enrolled in long-term studies. They also try to dispel myths and misinformation about cancer.

“Some people believe that the chance of a recurrence lasts only five years post-treatment,” Yung said. “But studies have shown that risk can extend longer.”

Who can be seen at the Women’s Wellness Clinic?

Most patients come to the clinic after being treated at Fred Hutch. This includes proton therapy patients, but anyone with a genetic risk or a previous breast cancer diagnosis can be seen there. Patients who’ve been treated elsewhere can receive follow-up care at the Women’s Wellness Clinic.  

In days to come, the clinic may change its name to more accurately convey its scope.

“The term ‘wellness’ isn’t clear in terms of what a patient can expect,” said Yung. “The exact resources available through the clinic have changed. We’re also considering removing the term ‘women.’”

Although Fred Hutch sees all genders at the clinic – men can get breast cancer, too, especially if they carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation — the current name doesn’t reflect the spectrum of patients.

“We want a breast genetics home for all our high-risk patients,” Yung said. “For example, a man who has breast cancer and the BRCA gene mutation could develop prostate cancer, too. We want people to know we are inclusive of all genders.”

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