Cervical Cancer Treatment

Three treatments methods are commonly used to treat cervical cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Sometimes they are used alone, and there are times when they are used in conjunction with one another.

The treatment method(s) chosen depend on several factors like type of cervical cancer, stage of the disease, general health of the patient, and if other treatments have been utilized.

Surgical Methods Used to Treat Cervical Cancer
Surgery is a common method used to treat cervical cancer. Many times, surgery is combined with other treatment methods, like chemotherapy or radiation therapy. The type of surgery chosen to treat cervical cancer depends on the stage and other factors.

Surgical treatments for cervical cancer include:

cervical cancer treatment: surgery

# Lymphadenectomy Surgical removal of the lymph nodes. It is common in treating women with cervical cancer.

# Radical Trachelectomy Removal of the cervix and its surrounding tissue while leaving the body of the uterus intact. A radical trachelectomy with lymphadenectomy is an option for young women with early stage disease who wish to maintain fertility.

# Radical Hysterectomy Surgical removal of the uterus, cervix, and part of the vagina. In some cases, the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and lymph nodes are removed. A radical hysterectomy may be combine with chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

# Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy Surgical removal of both ovaries and the fallopian tubes. This type of surgery accompanies a hysterectomy is some cases.

cervical cancer treatment: chemotheraphy

Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is prescribed to treat cervical cancer and also to help radiation therapy be more effective. Chemotherapy drugs work by killing cancer cells or preventing them from multiplying. Several chemotherapy drugs are available to treat cervical cancer and will be prescribed according to the stage of cancer, type of cervical cancer, and other health factors.

Radiation Therapy

cervical cancer treatment: radiation teraphy

Radiation therapy uses high energy beams to reduce the size of a tumor or to kill cancer cells. This type of treatment can be done internally with radioactive materials that are implanted in the uterus or externally with the use of a radiation therapy machines.

Often prescribed with chemotherapy, radiation therapy is an effective method of treating cervical cancer. It can however, be prescribed alone or before or after chemotherapy. Radiation treatment plans depend on stage of cervical cancer, other treatment methods used, and the general health of the patient.

Source:

* about.com

Prevent Cervical Cancer

The prevention of any disease can be primary or secondary. The earlier involves taking action on the determinant conclude of the ailment to prevent it from occurring. The latter involves the early detection of disease, followed by appropriate interventions to prevent its progression.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Because of the Pap smear test, the number of cervical cancer cases has dropped over the past twenty years.
While some cases of cervical cancer cannot be prevented, there are many things a woman can do to reduce her risk of developing cervical cancer.

How to Reduce Your Risk of Cervical Cancer:

regular pap smear to prevent cancer cervix

 1. Get a regular Pap smear. The Pap smear can be the utmost defenses for cervical cancer. The Pap smear can discover cervical changes early before they turn into cancer. Check cervical cancer test guidelines to find out how often you should have a Pap smear, or check with your doctor.

 2. Limit the amount of sexual partners you have. Studies have shown women who have many sexual partners increase their risk for cervical cancer. They also are escalating their risk of developing HPV, a known cause for cervical cancer.

 3. Quit smoking or avoid secondhand smoke. Smoking cigarettes raises your risk of developing many cancers, including cervical cancer. Smoking combined with an HPV infection can actually accelerate cervical dysplasia. Your best bet is to stop the habit.

 4. If you are sexually active, use a condom. Having unprotected sex puts you at risk for HIV and other STD's which can increase your risk factor for developing cervical cancer.

 5. Follow up on abnormal Pap smears. If you have had an abnormal Pap smear, it is essential to follow up with regular Pap smears or colposcopies, whatsoever your doctor has decided for you. If you have been treated for cervical dysplasia, you still need to follow up with Pap smears or colposcopies. Dysplasia can return and when undetected, can turn into cervical cancer.

HPV Vaccine to prevent cervical cancer

 6. Get the HPV vaccine. If you are under 27, you may be eligible to receive the HPV vaccine, which prevents high risk strains of HPV in women. The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was approved by the FDA to give to young girls as young as 9. The vaccine is most effective when given to young women before they become sexually active.



7. Improve your Nutrition intake:

• Fruits and vegetables

Higher levels of vegetable consumption were associated with a 54% decrease risk of HPV persistence.

•  Vitamin A

There is an evidence to suggest a significant deficiency of retinol can increase chances of cervical dysplasia, independently of HPV 

• Vitamin C

Risk of type-specific, persistent HPV infection was lower among women reporting intake values of vitamin C in the upper quartile compared with those reporting intake in the lowest quartile.

• Vitamin E

good nutrition to prevent cervical cancer

HPV clearance time was significantly shorter among women with the highest compared with the lowest serum levels of tocopherols. Results from this investigation support an association of micronutrients with the rapid clearance of incident oncogenic HPV infection of the uterine cervix.

•  Folic acid

Higher folate status was inversely associated with becoming HPV test-positive. Women with higher folate status were significantly less likely to be repeatedly HPV test-positive and more likely to become test-negative. Studies have shown that lower levels of antioxidants coexisting with low levels of folic acid increases the risk of CIN development. Improving folate status in subjects at risk of getting infected or already infected with high-risk HPV may have a beneficial impact in the prevention of cervical cancer.

• Carotenoids

There is a data suggests that vegetable consumption and circulating lycopene may be protective against HPV persistence

Stages of Cervical Cancer

Once cervical cancer has been diagnosed the stage needs to be determined. A stage reveals how much the cancer has progressed. 

stages of cervical cancer

The Stages of Cervical Cancer has five different categories. The system used is referred to as the "Figo" system (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. You will notice that within each stage is a "sub-stage" and represent levels within that specific stage of cancer.

The staging system begins at 0 and ends at IV. 0 meaning the very early stages of cervical cancer and IV being advanced. The stage at diagnosis is one factor that determines the treatment options available.

Stage 0

Also called carcinoma in situ, stage 0 means that cancerous cell that have not invaded deeper tissues. The cells are superficial and are only found on the surface.

Stage I

In stage I, cancerous cells have invaded the cervix, and cells are no longer just at the surface. Cancer is still confined to the cervix and has not spread.

# Stage IA: This is the earliest form of stage I cervical cancer. The cancer can only be identified under microscopic examination.

    * Stage IA1: The invasion area is less than 3mm (1/8 inch) deep and less than 7mm (1/4 inch) wide.

    * Stage IA2: The invasion area is between 3 mm and 5 mm (about 1/5 inch) deep and less than 7 mm (about 1/4 inch) wide.

# Stage IB: This stage indicated that cancer can be seen without a microscope. It also includes cancers that have invaded the connective tissue of the cervix, deeper than 5mm (1/5 inch).

    * Stage IB1: Cancer is no more than 4 centimeters large (1 3/4 inches).

    * Stage IB2: Cancer is larger than 4 centimeters (1 3/4 inches)

Stage II

In stage II, the cancer has spread to nearby tissues, but is still contained within the pelvic area.

# Stage IIA: Cancer has spread to the upper part of the vagina. The lower third of the vagina has not been affected.

# Stage IIB: In this stage, cancer has spread to tissue near the cervix. This tissue is called parametrial tissue.

Stage III

This stage indicates that cancer has spread to the lower portion of the vagina. It could have also spread to the pelvic wall in this stage.

# Stage IIIA: Cancer has spread to the lower part of the vagina and is contained in that area.

# Stage IIIB: Cancer has spread to the pelvic wall. This also includes cancer that blocks the flow of urine to the bladder.

Stage IV

In stage IV, the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. This is the most advanced stage of cervical cancer.

# Stage IVA: This stage includes cancer that has spread to areas close to the cervix, such as the bladder or rectum.

# Stage IVB: Stage IVB cervical cancer is not considered curable. In this stage, cancer has spread to distant areas of the body, like the lungs.

Source:

* about.com