Cervical Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

If your doctor says that you have cervical cancer, ask to be referred to a gynecologic oncologist—a doctor who has been trained to treat cancers of a woman's reproductive system. This doctor will work with you to create a treatment plan.

The extent of disease is referred to as the stage. Information about how big a cancer is or how far it has spread is often used to determine the stage. Doctors use information about stage to plan treatment and to monitor progress.

For more information about stages of cervical cancer, visit the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Physician Data Query (PDQ) site on Stages of Cervical Cancer.

Types of Treatment

There are several ways to treat cervical cancer. The treatment depends on the type of cervical cancer and how far it has spread. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. People with cervical cancer often get more than one kind of treatment.

• Surgery: Doctors cut out and remove cancer tissue in an operation.
• Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to shrink or kill the cancer. The drugs could be pills or medicines given through an IV (intravenous) tube. Sometimes chemotherapy includes both IV drugs and pills.
• Radiation: Radiation uses high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to try to kill the cancer cells. The rays are aimed at the part of the body where the cancer is.

Visit NCI's PDQ for more information about treatments for Cervical Cancer.

These treatments may be provided by different doctors on your medical team. Gynecologic oncologists are doctors who have been trained to treat cancers of a woman's reproductive system. Surgeons are doctors who perform operations. Medical oncologists are doctors who are experts in cancer and treat cancers with medicines. Radiation oncologists are doctors who treat cancers with radiation.

Clinical Trials

People with cervical cancer may want to take part in a clinical trial. Clinical trials study new potential treatment options. Visit the sites listed below for more information about clinical trials.

• Clinical Trials (NCI)
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• Clinical Trials (American Cancer Society)

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

For information, visit NCI's Complementary and Alternative Medicine.