Additionally, women who have symptoms of cervical cancer often avoid seeing their doctor. They may not have health insurance, they may be frightened, or they may think that something less serious is the cause of their symptoms (Peto, 2004)
As with endometrial cancer, early detection of cancer of the cervix is important. If the growth of abnormal cells is detected before they turn cancerous, a patient has an excellent chance of recovery (Bristow 2003)
When caught at its early stage, before the cancer has spread outside the uterus, this disease also has a high rate of recovery. Of those who are diagnosed in the early stage, an estimated 93% remain cancer-free five years after their treatment (Burke 2001)
This vaccine works by targeting the four types of HPV, which could lead to cervical cancer. While promising, Gadarsil is not intended as a cure for those who are already suffering from HPV infection or patients already diagnosed with cervical cancer (Gorner 2006)
The good news is that a cervical cancer diagnosis is no longer a death sentence. Cervical cancer in women is common and afflicts close to 530,000 women worldwide each year (Colombo et al
Of primary concern is whether the tumor is localized within the cervix, involves the whole cervix, or has spread to the surrounding tissues and lymph nodes. The Bethesda System for cervical cytology classification helps initiate this process by providing terminology standards for specimen quality, type of cervical cancer, and grade of lesion (Davey, 2003)
Additional imaging tests may need to be performed if the disease has spread beyond the cervix, including positron emission tomography (PET) or a combination of PET and CT. Such studies will be needed to stage the disease, determine whether surgery is appropriate, and guide surgeons should surgery be indicated (Querleu and Morrow, 2008)
Treatment Plan As discussed above, staging is the first step towards developing a treatment plan. Either a computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will likely be performed to initially determine how big the tumor is and whether it has metastisized (Small et al
, 2012); however, patients with more advanced stages of disease will typically undergo chemoradiotherapy followed by total hysterectomy (NCI, 2013). Long-Term Management RT has been shown to carry the greatest risk of long-term morbidity compared to surgery alone (Wolfson et al