A Global Network
We are uniting a Global Network of independent organizations and individuals in the fight against gynecologic cancer.
Special Announcements:
IGCS is seeking nominations for the 2020 Distinguished Advocacy Award through April 15, 2020. Do you know someone who should be nominated? Let us know!
Please visit our COVID-19 Resources page for a list of links to guidelines, videos, and reading materials related to COVID-19 and gynecologic cancer.
Advocacy Events 
September 11, 2020
Wine Tasting Reception & Women4Women Concert
September 12, 2020
Sunrise Bus Tour of Rome &
Survivor-Caregiver Symposium
Survivor Spotlight
Our first survivor spotlights feature the three recipients of the 2019 IGCS Distinguished Advocacy Award.
Venus Ginés
Founder/President, Día de la Mujer Latina
Houston, Texas, USA
“The year was 1992, when a simple slip and fall on a flight sent me to the Emergency Room. During the exam, the doctor proceeded to ask if I had ever had a mammogram; I said, ‘No.’ He explained that at 41, I should have had a baseline test. I asked why, and he said that mammograms can detect breast cancer in its early stages. My initial response was, ‘But I’m Latina. We Latinas get cervical cancer; breast cancer is a white woman’s disease.’ The fact that I only saw white women on TV discussing breast cancer led me to believe that this type of cancer would not strike Latinas.” Read more of Venus’ story.
Miho Katagi
Co-Founder/Director, SMILEY
Tokyo, Japan
“In 2004, when I was 30 years old, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer (Mucinous, Stage Ia) and treated with surgery and chemotherapy. At the time, I knew nothing about ovarian cancer, my son was only 2 years old, and I felt anxiety every day. While dealing with the diagnosis and such uneasy feelings, I was supported and encouraged most by other ovarian cancer patients I met online.” Read more of Miho’s story.
Benda Kithaka
Co-Founder/Chair, Women4Cancer Early Detection & Treatment
Nairobi, Kenya
Benda is not a cancer survivor, but she is the sister of a cervical cancer survivor and co-founded the featured organization.
“In February 2010, my young sister—27 years old and a mother of one child—called with the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with cancer. This diagnosis was made by a general practitioner in a village hospital. She and her husband were utterly broken and in a panic mode, trying to make plans for the future of their young family without her, since unfortunately, any cancer diagnosis was viewed by many as a death sentence.” Read more of Benda’s story.
Ask a Survivor
If you have a question you would like answered or a topic you would like discussed from a survivor or caregiver perspective, please send it to Dicey Scroggins at dicey.scroggins@igcs.org. We will reach out to the community and post responses.
We Create: Joint Art Project
“We Create: Joint Art Project” is a signature survivor- and caregiver-led opportunity to create and leave art—as a gift from the gynecologic cancer community and a remembrance—in each region where IGCS holds a Global Meeting. Everyone who attends the meeting can contribute to the art piece, perhaps through a paint brush stroke or a mosaic tile placement. IGCS will provide the supplies; you will each contribute your own artistic touch.
IGCS will include an art project in most major advocacy-community events and encourage others to do the same, providing basic guidance and templates.
Advocates in Action
Thanks for your support in the fight against gynecologic cancer!