He had traveled with a group of medical oncologists to bring a new radiation device to a hospital in Dakar, Senegal. While there, he saw how many women were unnecessarily killed by a preventable and treatable disease: cervical cancer.
During their trip in 2012, the team had an unforeseen downtime and organized the screening of cervical cancer for women in a remote and hard-hit area of Senegal.
“I came prepared with vaginal speculation and all sorts of supplies to examine women,” she said.
Cervical cancer can be treated if detected early and is common in remote and resource-poor countries, such as Senegal, where Pap smears are not available and preventive care cannot be accessed.
Using a method that Gordon and others call “See and Treat,” screening can be done without the need for electricity and with a few transportable supplies.
“Vinegar is sprayed on the cervix; if the cervix turns a little white with a certain light, 99% (of patients) will benefit from the treatment,” Gordon said.
On their first morning of screenings, Gordon and the group of medical professionals were able to detect precancerous cells in eight women. However, the clinic they visited did not have the necessary device to treat them.
Gordon had heard the rumor that an abandoned health center might have the equipment they needed. So he embarked on a three-hour expedition to find her.
“I got into this dusty clinic and there’s this cryotherapy gun and this CO2 tank,” he said.
Gordon bought a washing machine needed to operate the device and, with the help of some locals, moved the equipment to the clinic where the women were still waiting. The machine worked and the women were treated in situ with a simple and quick procedure that destroys precancerous cells.
He was a long way from the way things worked in his Beverly Hills office, but the experience stayed with Gordon, whose family history of breast cancer is a driving force in his work.
“What was so rewarding for me is that in one day we can save literally 20, 30 lives depending on the number of women we examine,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do this and see if I could prove it.”
Gordon then partnered with two other doctors and traveled to Ethiopia; this time they brought the cryotherapy apparatus. The results were similar. Using basic “See and Treat” techniques, the group detected and treated dozens of women and trained local nurses to do the same.
At the end of this trip, the team left a suitcase full of supplies with trained nurses so they could take them to underserved clinics.
After 27 years, Gordon left his private practice in 2014 to devote all his time to CureCervicalCancer. He does not charge any salary.
She and her group use the “See & Treat” model along with what they call “Clinic in a Suitcase” to deliver testing, training, and supplies to clinics around the world. Since then, the organization has worked in ten countries, including China, Haiti, Guatemala, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam.
In the past nine years, the nonprofit has also established 106 sustainable clinics to examine and treat women in remote and underserved areas.
“Most of the women we treat live about an hour and a half to two hours on foot from the clinic,” she said. “It always amazes me when they get there that there are smiles on their faces. They’re happy to be there, they don’t mind waiting in line.”
The nonprofit has analyzed more than 150,000 women and has treated more than 8,600 to date.
“Having 8,000 women alive and being able to provide for their families is honestly the most rewarding thing I could have imagined in my life,” Gordon said. “I think I’m the luckiest doctor I’ve ever lived.”