Treatment and Prevention
Cervical cancers that are detected early enough - as most are nowadays - can be removed by surgery. The cure rate is very high, and only a small minority of cancers return after treatment. Nevertheless, a woman can expect to be monitored closely after successful treatment to make sure that the cancer is gone for good.
With larger cancers, more tissue must be removed. A tumor that's spread into the wall of the cervix usually requires hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). Small tumors can be treated with extrafascial hysterectomy, leaving some of the uterus (womb) intact. Somewhat larger tumors require radical hysterectomy, the complete removal of the uterus and cervix. If cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes (a network of kidney-bean-shaped immune organs spread throughout the body), the affected nodes must be removed as well.
With more advanced tumors, doctors often recommend radiation therapy after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells. Unfortunately, radiation can cause stenosis (closing) and dryness of the vagina. Regular stretching with a special device known as a dilator can help prevent vaginal stenosis. This can be done at home.
Very advanced or widespread tumors are often treated with radiation. In fact, cervical cancer can be cured by radiation alone, even when the tumor has spread.
In a few cases, the cancer has spread widely in the pelvis (i.e., to the bladder and rectum) but hasn't reached the lungs or other organs. Radiation therapy is usually tried first, but if this doesn't work, a surgical procedure called exenteration may be effective. Exenteration is a procedure in which all of the pelvic organs are removed, and the organs are replaced by artificial devices and grafts of the person's own tissue. This radical technique produces cure rates of about 50%.
The risk of cervical cancer can be greatly reduced if you avoid becoming infected with the papillomavirus. That said, the virus is a very common infection in both men and women, and a very small percentage of infections cause any problems. Most people picked it up in adolescence or early adulthood, long before they or anyone else knew about its link to cervical cancer. If you aren't infected, you can stay that way by practising safe sex: use condoms. If you smoke, quitting will also improve your chances of avoiding cervical cancer.
Several possible HPV vaccines are currently being tested around the world. They hold promise not only to prevent papillomavirus infection, but also to help the immune system recognize and kill papillomavirus-infected cervical cells in people who already have the virus. This could prevent cancer from appearing by preventing the spread of papillomavirus through cervical tissue.
What makes these vaccines special is that they trigger the immune system to recognize as foreign the protein markers on the surface of papillomaviruses - and those same markers are also found on the surface of cervical cancer cells. This means the vaccine could potentially "train" the immune system to attack cervical tumors. It's unlikely that this would be enough to destroy a tumor on its own, but such immune cells could destroy individual cancer cells that detach from tumors and spread through the body. This means we may soon have a vaccine that not only stops papillomavirus from causing cervical cancer in the first place, but might also help to prevent existing cervical tumors from spreading.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provides low-income, uninsured, and underserved women access to timely, high-quality screening and diagnostic services, to detect breast and cervical cancer at the earliest stages, through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). To find out if you are eligible, contact your health care provider.