Cervical cancer treatment - Cervical cancer stages

Cervical cancer is quite common, and as such all women are offered regular screening for cervical cancer via Pap tests. If a suspicious lesion is discovered and diagnosed as (or suspected to be) cervical cancer, this will need to be treated. The treatment varies depending upon whether your cancer was caught at an early stage or at a later stage. It is also important to receive regular follow-up exams after treatment for cervical cancer.

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Diagnosing & Treating
Determine the stage (severity) of your cancer. The stages of cervical cancer are a progression from Stage 0 to Stage IV (four). Classification depends on three factors: the extent of the main tumor, if the cancer has spread to surrounding lymph nodes, and whether the cancer as spread to distant parts of your body. Your doctor will evaluate the stage of your cancer, and will present you with treatment options based upon that. Stage 0 — Cancer cells are found on the surface of the cervix but have not grown into the tissue. This stage is also called carcinoma in situ (CIS). Stage I — Cancer cells have invaded the cervix, but cancer is not growing outside the uterus. Stage II — The cancer has invaded the cervix and uterus, but not the walls of the pelvis or the lower part of the vagina. Stage III — The cancer has spread to the lower part of the vagina or the walls of the pelvis, and it may be blocking the ureters. It may have spread to lymph nodes in the pelvis but not to distant parts of your body. Stage IV — The most advanced stage of cancer in which the cancer has spread (metastasized) to distant parts of your body.

Treat stage 0 cancer
Cancer of any stage can be confirmed with a cone biopsy, which is a procedure in which the doctor excises (cuts out) the lesion on your cervix and then examines it under the microscope. Stage 0 can be treated with minor surgical measures such as cryosurgery, laser ablation, and loop excision. The microscope examination confirms the diagnosis of cancer, and also informs your doctor about whether or not all of the cancer cells have effectively been removed. After treatment, you will require lifelong surveillance to ensure all of the cancerous cells were removed and/or that the cancer doesn't return.

Ask your doctor
If your cancer is very large or has already spread, you will definitely need to proceed to treatment options for later-stage cervical cancer; however, if your cancer is caught when it appears to be small and still localized to the cervix, the excision (removal) may be sufficient. It all depends on the "margins." This means that when your doctor examines the piece that was removed under the microscope, they will check the margins (or border) of the section that was removed to ensure that these are cancer-free. If the margins are cancer-free, it usually means that the entire cancer has been removed. You may not need any further treatment. If the margins contain cancer cells, it means that the cancer was not completely cured and you will need to talk to your doctor about further treatment options, covered in the next section of this article.

Opt for surgery
One highly successful way to treat cervical cancer is to opt for surgery. Generally, both the cervix and the uterus are removed, and additional structures may be removed if the cancer has invaded beyond these areas.