Cervical Cancer - Treatment for Cervical Cancer

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Click the icon to see an image of a MRI.

Sentinel Node Biopsy. Of interest is a technique known as a sentinel node biopsy, which has been used in patients with breast cancer to help determine if cancer has spread beyond the lymph nodes. It is now being investigated for patients with early cervical cancer and may be helpful in determining which patients require lymphadenectomy (removal of the lymph nodes) in the pelvic area:

• The procedure uses an injection of a tiny amount of a blue dye, into the tumor site.
• These substances then flow via the lymphatic system into the so-called sentinel node. This is the first lymph node to which any cancer would spread.
• The sentinel lymph node and possibly one or two others are then removed.
• If they do not show any signs of cancer, it is possible that the remainder of the lymph nodes will be cancer-free, and further removal of lymph nodes becomes unnecessary.

A 2002 study reported that this technique was able to detect cancer that had spread in 87.5% of cases. More investigation is required before it can be widely used.

General Treatment Guidelines

Once diagnosed, cervical cancer (invasive disease) is classified into stages according to the extent of the abnormal cells' invasion into the lining of the cervix or its spread throughout the cervix or beyond. These classifications are used to determine treatment and outlook.

It is important for patients who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer to know the normal treatments for their particular stage, so that they may compare their doctor's suggestions with these norms.

In stage I patients, the need for more aggressive treatment is correlated with larger tumor size, any involvement of blood or lymph vessels, and deeper invasion into the supportive tissues (the stroma) around the cervix.

In later stages, a greater tumor size, older age and poor general health, and cancer involvement in the pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes (nodes near the aorta, the major artery in the body) suggest the need for investigative or more aggressive treatments.