Treatment Options for Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is a serious health condition that impacts a lot of women in India.

So if your loved one is diagnosed with Cervical cancer, we understand the trauma you are dealing with.

But with the advancements in medical science and technology, multiple treatment options are available for cervical cancer.

In this blog, we will look at all these options so you can get a clear idea about the condition.

But to understand the available treatment options, it’s important to understand the different stages of Cervical cancer.

Let’s begin with that first.

Stages of Cervical Cancer

Whenever your doctor performs a biopsy to diagnose cervical cancer, further testing involves CT, MRI, and PET scans.

These tests are performed to determine the size of the tumor and identify whether cancer has spread in the peripheral tissues, lymph nodes, and other parts of the body.

This information is critical to determine the stage of cancer.

There are 4 stages of cervical cancer, viz. Stage 1 (Early Stage) to Stage 4 (Advanced Stage).

Treatment for each stage is different and must be tailored according to the patient’s condition.

Also Read-How is Biopsy Done in Cervical Cancer?

Treatment options for Cervical Cancer

Now, the treatment option for Cervical cancer include:

1. Surgery

In general, the surgical option is available in Cervical cancer only if it is in the first stage.

So if the cancer is diagnosed, the doctor will determine whether the surgery is feasible based on its stage.

There are two different surgery options available for cervical cancer.

If the cancer is very early, your doctor can perform surgery to remove only the cervix, saving your uterus. This surgery is performed via two methods:

1.Cone Biopsy: It’s a diagnostic-cum-surgical procedure that can act as a therapeutic treatment.

Under this procedure, the doctor takes a cone-shaped tissue from your cervix and sends it for testing along with endo-cervical curettage.

If there is cancer cells in the curettage, there is no further need for surgery.

But if the margins are involved and some malignant cells are found, doctors can take a cone-shaped tissue sample one more time.

If this sample is positive, then only doctors remove the uterus.

2.Trachelectomy: In this surgery, doctors remove the cervix and a small upper part of the vagina.

In some cases, the doctor might also remove pelvic lymph nodes. This procedure can help preserve the uterus, but it’s possible only in the early stages.

Both these procedures can help save your uterus and, eventually, your fertility.

 If cancer has advanced a bit (but not too much), then the only surgical option remains to remove the uterus.

For this, your doctor might recommend the following:

Hysterectomy: In this procedure, your doctor will remove your uterus along with the cervix.

There are multiple types of Hysterectomy procedures. Doctors choose the right one based on the size of your tumor, how much it spreads, whether it has lymph nodes and its extent.

Doctors also perform multiple examinations to determine whether they can save the ovaries somehow.

•   Radiation

Generally, we recommend surgery if the cancer is in its early stages. But sometimes, the patient is not ready for the surgery, or their poor health does not allow for the surgery.

In such cases, there is an option for Radiation therapy. There are two methods through which we offer Radiation therapy.

1.  External Beam Radiotherapy: In this procedure, the infected area is exposed to controlled radiation to kill the cancerous cells.

2. Brachytherapy: In this procedure, we give radiation to patients from within their bodies. Here, only a limited area is radiated.

We give either of these radiation therapies or both, depending on the patient’s condition and needs.

In some cases, radiation therapy is also available after the surgery.

If cancer has advanced a little bit but has not spread in the whole body, there is an option for radiation and Chemotherapy. 

•   Chemotherapy

This treatment option is generally preferred if cancer has advanced. In this treatment, IVs are used to insert cancer-killing drugs directly into the bloodstream.

•   Immunotherapy Or Targeted Therapy

If cancer has reached the advanced stage or returned after the treatment, Immunotherapy or  Targeted Therapy is an option. These new treatment modalities are still under research.

These are the treatment options available if you are diagnosed with cancer for the first time.

But what if you already had cervical cancer? It was treated but has returned? If your previous cancer was treated with surgery, then there is an option of radiation.

Similarly, if you were treated with radiation, surgery may be an option.

But if cancer has spread to the other parts of body, then Chemotherapy is the only option.

SSO Hospitals is a top cancer hospitals in mumbai contact us now for cancer treatment.

Wrapping up

Research on Cancer treatment is still going on.

We strongly believe more effective and efficient treatment alternatives will be available for the patients in the near future.

Meanwhile, if you or your loved ones are dealing with cervical cancer and want to know more about treatment options, feel free to reach out to us. We are here to help, always.