If you have cervical cancer, HOW do they treat it?

Answer 1

I have pasted below some information for the Website People Living with Cancer. Check them out at http://www.plwc.org and click on Cancer then on Cerivcail Cancer for more information. Below are Cervical Cancer Treatments. Good luck to you and Take Care!!


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The treatment of cervical cancer depends on the size and location of the tumor, whether the cancer has spread, and the person's overall health. In many cases, a team of doctors will work with the woman to determine the best treatment plan.

The most common treatments for cervical cancer are surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. The type of treatment used depends on the stage of the disease, the size of the tumor, the woman's age, her health, and her desire to have children. Women who are pregnant may decide to delay treatment until after the baby is born.

Chemoradiation (a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy) is generally used for women with invasive cervical cancer. Radiation therapy alone or surgery is generally used for small tumors. Surgery and radiation therapy are both called local therapies because they affect only the area around the cancer site. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy because it affects the entire body.

Surgery

Surgery removes the cancerous tissue. For cervical cancer that has not spread beyond the cervix, these procedures are often used:
Cryosurgery destroys cancer cells by freezing.


Laser surgery destroys cancer cells using a narrow beam of intense light.


Conization uses the same procedure as a cone biopsy to remove all of the abnormal tissue.


LEEP uses an electrical current passed through a thin wire hook. The hook removes the tissue.


A hysterectomy removes the uterus and cervix. If needed, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, the removal of both fallopian tubes and both ovaries, is done at the same time as the hysterectomy.
For cervical cancer that has spread beyond the cervix, one of these procedures may be used:
Radical hysterectomy removes the cervix, uterus, part of the vagina, and the nearby lymph nodes.


Exenteration removes the uterus, vagina, lower colon, rectum, or bladder if cervical cancer has spread to these organs following radiation therapy.
Complications or side effects from surgery vary depending on the extent of the procedure. Occasionally, patients experience excessive bleeding, infection, or damage to the urinary and intestinal systems.

If extensive surgical procedures have affected sexual function, other surgical procedures can construct an artificial vagina. Because these surgical procedures can affect a woman's sexual health, women may want to talk with their doctor about their symptoms. The doctor may be able to help reduce the side effects of surgery.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy travels through the bloodstream to tumor cells throughout the body. The goal of chemotherapy can be to destroy cancer remaining after surgery, slow the tumor's growth, or reduce side effects.

Although chemotherapy can be given orally (by mouth), most drugs used to treat cervical cancer are given intravenously (IV). IV chemotherapy is either injected directly into a vein or through a thin tube called a catheter, a tube temporarily put into a large vein to make injections easier.

Because chemotherapy affects normal cells as well as cancer cells, many people experience side effects from treatment. Side effects depend on the drug used and the dosage amount. Common side effects include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, fatigue, low blood count, bleeding or bruising after minor cuts or injuries, numbness and tingling in the hands or feet, headaches, hair loss, and darkening of the skin and fingernails.

Other potential side effects include the inability to become pregnant and premature menopause. Rarely, certain drugs may cause some hearing loss. Others may cause kidney damage. Patients may be given extra fluid intravenously for kidney protection. Side effects usually go away when treatment is completed.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy (radiotherapy) uses high-energy x-rays or other particles to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy may be given alone or before surgery to shrink the tumor. Some women may be treated with a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

The most common type of radiation treatment is called external-beam radiation therapy, which is radiation given from a machine outside the body. Internal radiation therapy is given by delivering a small amount of radioactive material directly to the tumor.

Side effects from radiation therapy depend on the dosage and the area of the body being treated. Common side effects include tiredness, mild skin reactions (such as dry or reddened skin at the site of radiation treatment), loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, urinary discomfort, and diarrhea. Side effects of internal radiation therapy may include abdominal pain and bowel obstruction. Most side effects usually go away after treatment is finished.

Sometimes, doctors advise their patients not to have sexual intercourse during radiation therapy. Women may resume normal sexual activity within a few weeks after treatment if they feel ready.

For more information about radiation therapy, see the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s pamphlet, Radiation Therapy for Gynecologic Cancers.

Advanced cervical cancer

Advanced cervical cancer has spread beyond the cervix. Palliative treatment with radiation therapy may be given to relieve pain. Chemotherapy and surgery may be used to treat or remove newly affected areas both within the pelvic area and in other parts of the body. The doctor may also suggest entering a clinical trial.

Answer 2

Do you already have a diagnosis, or are you trying to obtain one? Either way, I hope it all works out well for you. To obtain the diagnosis, they perform a colposcopy, an in-office procedure where the doc looks at the cervix through magnifying instruments. It's uncomfortable, but not painful. It's over rather quickly. An endocervical curretage may be done at the same time...that's when the doc uses a small spoon-shaped instrument to remove cells for testing. A cone biopsy can also be done - this is a minor surgery done under general anesthesia. With this type of procedure, the doc cuts literally a cone of tissue from the cervix and sends it to pathology. Once a diagnosis is confirmed, treatments for cervical cancer range from LEEP surgery to hysterectomy to radiation, depending on the stage and spread. Again, good luck to you.

Answer 3

If the cancer can't be treated with radiation or chemotherapy, a hysterectomy is done. Radiation is usually done by implanting radiation seeds into the womens vagina. She then has to stay laying flat in bed for however many hours the doctors want the radiation to last. Chemotherapy is a combination of very powerful drugs that kill just about everything in their path...even the good cells.

--Stacey

Answer 4

Cervical cancer became treatable (i do not fairly understand how effectively) contained in the 50s! i'm fairly certain of this because my aunt became offered the alternative of abortion and remedy or persevering with an early being pregnant and then remedy for her advanced cervical cancer. She opt for the latter, and remedy by no potential befell because she died purely about at present after handing over my cousin. An annual Pap smear is common procedures to capture it soonest, in the previous there are indicators. some women must be recommended to have them extra many times. once cancer has developed, the indicators are frequently unusual vaginal bleeding and pelvic soreness. even as we now understand what motives many situations, and ought to therefor look after antagonistic to it, I heavily doubt that remedy thoughts have replaced because of that information. Like cancer, the remedies comprise surgical operation, chemotherapy and radiation. each and each and every remedy routine is in certain designed for a particular affected individual and her cancer, in accordance to regular wellness, alternatives by employing the affected individual, degree and grade of the cancer and many different factors. One individual's remedy is likely to look fairly distinct from yet another's, and yet both must succeed. .

Answer 5

Usually radiation...depending on the stage (3 or 4) chemotherapy may be used as well as oral anti-cancer drugs (anti-neoplastics)