Cervical cancer

Cancer - cervix

Treatment of cervical cancer depends on the stage of the cancer, the size and shape of the tumor, the age and general health of the woman, and her desire to have children in the future.

Early cervical cancer can be cured by removing or destroying the pre-cancerous or cancerous tissue. There are various surgical ways to do this without removing the uterus or damaging the cervix, so that a woman can still have children in the future.

Types of surgery for early cervical cancer include:

• LEEP (Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure) - uses electricity to remove abnormal tissue
• Cryotherapy - freezes abnormal cells
• Laser therapy  - uses light to burn abnormal tissue

A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus but not the ovaries) is not often performed for cervical cancer that has not spread. It may be done in women who have repeated LEEP procedures. However, in more advanced disease, a radical hysterectomy may be performed. This type of hysterectomy removes the uterus and much of the surrounding tissues, including internal lymph nodes and upper part of the vagina. In the most extreme surgery, called a pelvic exenteration, all of the organs of the pelvis, including the bladder and rectum, are removed.

Radiation may be used to treat cancer that has spread beyond the pelvis, or cancer that has returned. Radiation therapy is either external or internal. Internal radiation therapy uses a device filled with radioactive material, which is placed inside the woman's vagina next to the cervical cancer. The device is removed when she goes home. External radiation therapy beams radiation from a large machine onto the body where the cancer is located. It is similar to an x-ray.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer. Some of the drugs used for chemotherapy for cervical cancer include 5-FU, Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Ifosfamide, Paclitaxel, and Cyclophosphamide. Sometimes radiation and chemotherapy are used before or after surgery.

National Cervical Cancer Coalition - http://www.nccc-online.org/