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Gynecologic Cancers & Conditions

Dr. Antonio Santillan-Gomez is a leading gynecologic cancer surgeon, recently named a 2016 Best Doctor® in the San Antonio area, with extensive experience using the da Vinci robotic surgery technology.

Gynecologic cancers include a variety of cancers in the female reproductive organs. The following are the areas and the types of cancer surgeries Dr. Antonio Santillan-Gomez performs.

Uterine Cancer (Endometrial)

  • Biopsy for endometrial cancer - The GYN surgeon will perform a biopsy to test the uterine tissue for cancer. This is done by dilation and curettage (D&C) with or without a hysteroscopy.

    A hysterectomy is often the recommended procedure for uterine cancer.  When a woman is still in her childbearing years, Dr. Antonio Santillan will discuss whether it’s possible to perform a fertility-sparing uterine cancer surgery. There are several types of hysterectomy which the surgeon will evaluate and discuss with the patient to choose the option that is likely to produce optimal results.

  • Robotic laparoscopic hysterectomy / Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) - removal of the uterus with the fallopian tube and ovary. This may also be done with removal of nearby lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy) if needed, and sentinel lymph node removal.

Ovarian Cancer

  • Hysterectomy - using daVinci robotic technology for a minimally invasive surgery, removal of the uterus and/or ovaries.

  • Cytoreductive Surgery (Debulking) - This procedures is important when the ovarian cancer has spread throughout the abdomen at the time of surgery. The aim of debulking surgery is to remove all cancerous tumors that are larger than 1 cm. This is called optimally debulked. Patients whose tumors have been optimally debulked, have a better outlook than those left with larger tumors after surgery. When possible this is done using minimally invasive surgery techniques such as daVinci.

Cervical Cancer

Clinical examination and biopsies are performed to determine the amount and stage of cancer.

  • Colposcopy and Cold Knife Cone - a biopsy that removes small amounts of the abnormal tissue from the cervix to be examined for cancer.

    If cancer is found a fertility-sparing approach will be used if the patient is in childbearing years and if possible.  Surgery for cervical cancer includes:

Peritoneal Cancer

  • Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) for Gastrointestinal cancers

Vulvar Cancer

  • Radical vulvectomy

  • Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser ablation of vaginal dysplasia - removal of abnormal cells in the vaginal area.

Other Conditions

  • Gestational trophoblastic disease

  • Gynecological sarcomas

  • Complex non-cancer gynecologic conditions

Other Procedures

  • Robotic cancer staging

  • Robotic laparoscopic pelvic SLN

  • Advanced pelvic surgery