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Understanding Cervical Cancer
the Basics | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention
Treatment
How Do I Know If I Have It?
Every woman should have a regular pelvic exam and Pap smear, which tests a cervical cell sample for abnormalities. Together, these procedures detect cervical cancer 95% of the time, often long before the disease produces symptoms.
If your Pap smear is abnormal, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics and test you again, since a minor infection can affect the results. Recently, some doctors have started to test for HPV at the time of Pap smear. If a high-risk type of HPV is found in women with an abnormal Pap smear, doctors are more inclined to do a colposcopy. If a second Pap test is abnormal or the HPV test is positive, your doctor will visually examine your cervix and take a tissue sample (biopsy) of any apparent abnormality for evaluation (colposcopy). If the biopsy confirms cancer, further tests will determine whether the disease has spread. These tests might include:
- Examination should include inspection, palpation, colposcopy, scraping of the inside of the canal of the cervix (endocervical curettage). Possible evaluation of the inside of the uterus with a camera (hysteroscopy).
- Biopsy of the bladder and rectum to look for spread to nearby organs. This is done via cystoscopy (a scope is placed through the urethra into the bladder to sample cells) or proctoscopy (a scope placed into the rectum to sample cells).
- Intravenous urography, a dye test to look at the urethra and bladder to look for evidence of cancer spread.
- Chest X-ray to look for spread of the cancer to the lungs and skeleton.
- Various radiologic tests can be performed to see the spread of the tumor : CAT scan, MRI, or PET scan to look for spread into the chest or abdomen or pelvis
Your doctor may also order many blood and urine tests and liver and kidney function studies.
What Are the Treatments?
The options for treating cervical cancer depend on the stage of the disease. The stage is how large the tumor is and how far it has spread through the body.
Most cases of cervical cancer are cured or controlled by a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. A variety of alternative therapies might prove useful in easing side effects and improving overall health.
Women with genital warts and mild dysplasia should be carefully monitored for signs of cancer but usually require no immediate treatment. Carcinoma in situ and severe dysplasia are normally treated surgically. Superficial tumors can be treated with radiation but are more often removed with a scalpel, a laser, controlled freezing, or cauterization.
If cancer has advanced deep into the cervix or spread to neighboring organs, hysterectomy -- removal of the cervix, uterus, and possibly other organs -- is imperative. If cancer spreads beyond the pelvic area, radiation therapy and perhaps chemotherapy may relieve symptoms and suppress the spread but rarely result in cure. Any woman who has had dysplasia or cervical cancer should see her doctor regularly for at least five years after treatment to check for recurrence.
the Basics | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention
