Cervical Cancer Treatment

If you are diagnosed with cervical cancer you will want to discuss your options regarding courses of treatment. While speaking with your doctor of the specialists at the Gynecologic Oncology Center, feel free to take notes so you can ask additional questions.

The course of treatment will depend largely on what stage the cervical cancer is in. If you are in your childbearing years, certain options can affect your ability to become pregnant some day.

Treatment Options

Non-Invasive Cancers

If the cancer is confined to the outer layer of the cervix, the following non-invasive procedures can be used:

• Cone biopsy: During this procedure the surgeon uses a scalpel to remove a cone-shaped piece of the cervical tissue where the abnormality has been discovered.
• Laser surgery: To eliminate the cancerous and/or precancerous cells, a narrow beam of intense light is utilized to eliminate the growth.
• LEEP: Using an electrically charged wire loop that cuts like a scalpel, the cancerous cells are removed from the mouth of the cervix.
• Cryosurgery: Cancerous and precancerous cells are killed by freezing them using super cooled cryo probes that are inserted through the vagina. The liquid nitrogen’s temperature is approximately -50 degrees Celsius and the area is typically frozen then thawed several times to ensure the cells are dead.
• Hysterectomy: In some cases a hysterectomy can be conducted using minimally invasive techniques. This is only possible when the cancer has not spread beyond the cervix and the uterus.
  
  In many cases, your physician may recommend a robotic hysterectomy. A revolutionary new surgical procedure, the surgeon uses state-of-the-art da Vinci® robotic technology to perform the surgery through small incisions. The technology provides the surgeon with a highly magnified, real time image of the surgical environment. Using micro-instruments the surgeon can conduct the procedure without damaging surrounding tissues and nerves.
  
  Benefits include a shorter stay in the hospital, less pain and scarring, reduced blood loss, fewer infections and complications and the ability to return to your normal routine more quickly.

Invasive Cancer

When cancer of the cervix has spread deeper than the outside layers of the cervix, it is known as invasive cancer. The actual cervical cancer treatment will depend on a number of factors, including the stage the cancer is in, other health issues and your own preferences.

• Hysterectomy: The removal of the cervix and uterus is usually the treatment option for early stages of cervical cancer. A simple hysterectomy involves the removal of the cancer, the cervix and the uterus. A radical hysterectomy includes part of the vagina and lymph nodes as well as the cervix and uterus. Of course, removal of the uterus means you can never become pregnant.
• Radiation: For early stages cancer of the cervix, radiation therapy is as effective as surgery. For women in advanced stages of cervical cancer, it is the often the best treatment. The high-powered energy is introduced either through an internal beam or by placing devices filled with radioactive material near the cervix in a procedure known as brachytherapy.
  
  Depending on the stage of cervical cancer, surgery and radiation therapy may be used together. Radiation therapy can also be used with chemotherapy to shrink the size of the tumor before surgery or to ensure that all remaining cancer cells are killed after surgery.
• Chemotherapy: Used alone or in combination with one another, chemotherapy drugs are usually injected into a vein. Once in the bloodstream these drugs kill fast growing cells, including cancerous ones. Low does of chemo also enhance the effects of radiation while higher doses can control advanced stages of cervical cancer that aren’t otherwise curable.
  
  The Gynecologic Oncology Center offers patients a wide range of clinical trials, offering patients new treatments that aren’t yet available to the general public. In fact, the center participates in more clinical trials than any other hospital in the region.