Treatment
Cervical Cancer Treatment?
The stage of your cancer weighs heavily in what treatments are used. The below guidelines are from the Mayo Clinic Guide to Women’s Cancers. Please realize that these are only general guidelines. The cervical cancer treatments available will depend on you, your cancer, and what treatment your doctor thinks is best for you.
Stage IA Treatment Options
· Hysterectomy with removal of pelvic lymph nodes
· Internal radiation with or without external radiation
Stage IB Treatment Options
· Radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes
· Radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes, followed by radiation plus chemotherapy
· External and internal radiation with chemotherapy
· Chemotherapy followed by radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes
Stage IIA Treatment Options
· Radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes
· Radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes, followed by radiation plus chemotherapy
· External and internal radiation with or without chemotherapy
· Chemotherapy followed by radical hysterectomy and removal of lymph nodes
Stage IIB Treatment Options
· External and internal radiation plus chemotherapy
Stages IIIA and IIIB Treatment Options
· External and internal radiation plus chemotherapy
Stage IVA Treatment Options
· External and internal radiation plus chemotherapy
Stage IVB Treatment Options
· Chemotherapy
· Radiation, as need, to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life
· Clinical trials of new or combination anti-cancer drugs
What are the common side effects of the treatments?
Side effects of treatments for Cervical Cancer depend upon what type of treatment is used and to what extent it is used. People react differently to treatments, so what may affect one woman might not affect another.
Common side effects of radiation include diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, and changes in skin texture. Common side effects of chemotherapy include hair loss, nausea, vomiting, and damage to the kidneys, liver, and immune system.
What are the latest treatments being developed, and who is carrying out clinical trials of these new treatments?
One of the latest Cervical Cancer treatments being studied is Immunotherapy. The goal of Immunotherapy is to make the body use its own immune system to ward off the cancer.
Another experimental Cervical Cancer treatment is anti-angiogenics. Anti-angiogenics is a class of medication in which the drugs help block the tumor growth by cutting off the blood supply to the tumor. The scientific reasoning behind this is that tumors require a steady blood supply in order to grow and spread.
Research is being done to study how particular genes are related to the development of cervical cancer. Scientists are looking for a way to replace genes in cancer cells that have been damaged with normal ones.
There are many existing clinical trials accepting new patients. The best way to find these trials is to get online. If you have a major medical university nearby, check their website to see what trials are currently underway. Inquire at your doctor’s office about any trials that you may be appropriate for. You may want to contact the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. Their information is listed below.
