Posts Tagged ‘Cervical Cancer’

Cervical cancer and Pregnancy

Pregnancy and cervical cancer can be categorized under two categories for a better understanding. Cancer occurs in approximately one out of every 1,000 pregnancies. However, pregnancy itself does not cause cancer, and pregnant women are not more likely to get cancer than other women.
- Being pregnant when you are diagnosed.
- Pregnancy after treatment for cervical cancer.

If your cancer is a very early cancer, such as stage IA, then most doctors believe that it is safe to continue the pregnancy to term. Several weeks after delivery, a hysterectomy or a cone biopsy is recommended. If the cancer is stage IB, then you and your doctor must decide whether to continue the pregnancy.
There are several conditions which need to be met before a woman considers pregnancy. If all of these conditions are not met, then the risk is too great that the cancer could reoccur :
- The cancer cells must be confined to only the cervix.
- The cancer was less than 3 mm deep into the tissues of the cervix.
- The affected area was no larger than 10 mm across at any point.
- There is no sign of cancer in the blood vessels, lymphatic vessels or
lymph gland.
If the patient was treated with radiation therapy then most likely the patient is now infertile and pregnancy is not an option. Surgery, of course, removes the uterus which prevents pregnancies from forming.

However, there is a way in which a woman can get pregnant.
A woman who opted for a radical trachelectomy still has part of her cervix intact. It removes cancer cells but leaves enough of the cervix to support a pregnancy. The doctor will stitch around the opening to hold it closed. This procedure significantly increases the risk of miscarriages and premature births because the cervix often is unable to support the weight from the pregnancy. This procedure requires the baby to be born by Caesarean section.

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How can cervical cancer be treated ?

Different types of treatment are available for patients with cervical cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer.
Three types of standard treatment are used:

Surgery

Surgery is an option for women with Stage I or II cervical cancer. The surgeon removes tissue that may contain cancer cells :
- Radical trachelectomy: The surgeon removes the cervix, part of the vagina, and the lymph nodes in the pelvis.
- Total hysterectomy: The surgeon removes the cervix and uterus.
- Radical hysterectomy: The surgeon removes the cervix, some tissue around the cervix, the uterus, and part of the vagina.
- Cryosurgery: A treatment that uses an instrument to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue, such as carcinoma in situ. This type of treatment is also called cryotherapy.
- Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: Surgery to remove both ovaries and both fallopian tubes.
- Lymph nodes: The surgeon may remove the lymph nodes near the tumor to see if they contain cancer.

Radiation therapy

It may be used after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that remain in the area. Women with cancer that extends beyond the cervix may have radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. It affects cells only in the treated area.
- External beam radiation is usually given five times a week for five or six weeks, with an extra boost of radiation at the end of that time.
- Implant radiation (brachytherapy) puts cancer-killing radiation as close to the tumor as possible, but spares the healthy tissue nearby. The radioactive material is either placed in a capsule and inserted into the cervix, or placed in thin needles that are inserted directly into the tumor.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body

Stages of Cervical Cancer

After cervical cancer has been diagnosed, tests are done to find out if cancer cells have spread within the cervix or to other parts of the body. Options for treating cervical cancer depend chiefly on the stage of disease — the size of the cancer, the depth of invasion, and whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Stage 0 or “in situ”

Stage 0 describes cancer that has only been found in the layer of cells lining the cervix. The cancer has not invaded the deeper tissues of the cervix.

Stage I

This stage describes cancer that has spread from the lining of the cervix into the deeper connective tissue of the cervix. Stage I cancer is still confined to the uterus.
Stage IA: This is the earliest form of stage I cancer. Only a small amount of cancer is visible upon microscopic examination.
– Stage IA1: The area of invasion is less than 3 millimeters (approximately 1/8 inch) deep and less than 7 millimeters (approximately 1/3 inch) wide.
– Stage IA2: The area of invasion is between 3 mm (millimeters) and 5 mm (approximately 1/5 inch) deep, and less than 7 mm (approximately 1/3 inch) wide.
Stage IB – This stage includes tumors that can be seen without a microscope. It also includes tumors that cannot be seen without a microscope but that are more than 7 millimeters wide and have penetrated more than 5 millimeters of connective cervical tissue.
– Stage IB1 : Tumor that is no bigger than 4 centimeters.
– Stage IB2 : Tumor that is bigger than 4 centimeters. Tumor has spread to organs and tissues outside the cervix but is still limited to the pelvic area.

Stage II

Cancer has spread beyond the cervix but not to the pelvic wall or to the lower third of the vagina.
- 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: This stage includes cancer that has spread to the lower third of the vagina but has not spread to the pelvic wall.
- Stage IIIB: This stage includes cancer that extends to the pelvic wall and/or blocks urine flow to the bladder.

Stage IV

This is the most advanced stage of cervical cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
- Stage IVA: This stage includes cancer that has spread to areas close to the cervix, such as the bladder or rectum.
- Stage IVB: This stage of cervical cancer is not considered curable. In this stage, cancer has spread to distant areas of the body, like the lungs.