Treatment Options for Gynecologic Cancer
There are numerous treatment options for cervical
cancer including:
Furthermore, for women who have pre-cancerous
lesions, please read the information directly
below:
Pre-Cancerous Lesions |
Women
who have pre-cancerous lesions have a few
different treatment options.
Factors to consider before treatment include
the desire to have children in the future,
current health status and life expectancy,
and concerns about the future and the possibility
of developing cancer.
There are a few different ways to remove pre-cancerous lesions without removing the entire uterus (and thus preserving a woman's ability to have a baby in the future). Women can have cryosurgery (freezing off the abnormal lesion), a LEEP (electrocautery is used to remove a thin slice of cervical tissue), a conization (the removal of a cone shaped wedge of cervical tissue), or have the cells removed with a laser. Your doctor can discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each of these options.
Women who do not have any plans to have children in the future and are particularly worried about their chances of getting an invasive cancer may elect to have a hysterectomy (a surgery that removes your uterus and cervix). This procedure is much more invasive than any of the above treatment options, but can provide peace of mind to women finished with childbearing. |
 |
Surgery |
Surgery is generally only employed in early stage cervical cancers. The purpose of surgery is to remove as much disease as possible, but it usually isn't used unless all of the cancer can be removed at the time of surgery.
There are a few different types of surgeries available. The earliest stage IA tumors can sometimes be treated with only a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix). Bigger stage IA, stage IB, and occasionally stage IIA tumors can be treated with more extensive hysterectomies coupled with lymphadenectomies (procedures that remove lymph nodes in the pelvis). Depending on the amount of disease, your surgeon may have to remove tissues around the uterus, as well as part of the vagina and the fallopian tubes.
One of the benefits of surgery in young women is that sometimes their ovaries do not need to be removed, so that they do not go through menopause at an early age. Higher stage disease is usually treated with radiation and chemotherapy, but sometimes surgery is employed if cervical cancer comes back after it has already been treated. |
|
Radiotherapy |
Radiation therapy has proven very effective in treating cervical cancer. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays (similar to x-rays) to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy is another option besides surgery for early stage cervical cancer; and when advanced stage cervical cancer needs to be treated, it is usually done with radiation therapy.
Surgery and radiation have been shown to be equivalent treatments for early stage cervical cancers, and radiation helps avoid surgery in patients who are too ill to risk having anesthesia. Radiation has the benefit of being able to treat all of the disease in the radiation field; thus lymph nodes can be treated as well as the primary tumor in the course of the same treatment.
Talk to your physician about radiotherapy options including brachytherapy (intracavity irradiation). Radiation is often combined with chemotherapy, and depending on your case your doctor will decide on the best possible treatment arrangement for your lifestyle and wishes. |
|
Chemotherapy |
Despite the fact that tumors are removed by surgery or treated with radiation, there is always a risk of recurrence because there may be microscopic cancer cells left in the body. In order to decrease a patient's risk of a recurrence, they are often offered chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the use of anti-cancer drugs that go throughout the entire body.
Practically all patients who are in good medical condition and receiving radiation for stage IIA or higher cervical cancer will be offered chemotherapy in addition to their radiation. There have been many studies that demonstrate the usefulness of adding chemotherapy to radiation in terms of decreasing mortality from cervical cancer.
There are many different chemotherapy drugs, and they are often given in combinations for a series of months. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the different regimens that your gynecologic oncologist or medical oncologist will discuss with you. Based on your own health, your personal values and wishes, and side effects you may wish to avoid, you can work with your doctors to come up with the best regimen for your lifestyle. |
|
