Treatments for Cervical Cancer

The treatment and management of cervical cancer most often involves surgery and radiation therapy. Sometimes chemotherapy or biological therapy is used. The type of treatment depends on the location and size of the tumor, the stage of the cancer, your age and general health, and other factors.

Staging is a careful attempt to determine whether the cancer has spread and, if it has, what body parts are affected. The higher the stage, the more advanced the cancer and the greater the need for more aggressive therapy. Cure rates decline as the stage of the tumor increases.

The following stages are used to classify cancer of the cervix:

• Stage 0—The abnormal cells are found only in the first (outer) layer of cells lining the uterus.
• Stage I—Cancer involves the cervix, but is still confined to the uterus. This stage has six levels, depending upon the size of the cancer: IA, IA1, IA2, IB, IB1, and IB2.
• Stage II—Cancer has spread to nearby areas, but is still inside the pelvic area. This stage has two levels, depending upon whether the cancer has spread to the vagina: (IIA) or further into the pelvis (IIB).
• Stage III—Cancer has spread throughout the pelvic area. This stage has two levels, depending upon whether the cancer has spread to the Lower one-third of the (IIIA) vagina , or more broadly out to the pelvic sidewall (IIIB).
• Stage IV—Cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The stage has two levels, depending upon which organs the cancer has spread to: IVA and IVB.

Treatment involves the following: