Is Cervical Cancer Curable at Every Stage?

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The chance to successfully cure cervical cancer is good if it is diagnosed at early stages. But if the disease is caught /diagnosed at later stages, the cells of cancer are more difficult to be treated and cured. Therefore, it’s so recommended to take routine pep tests (a kind of screening test), especially for individuals who have high risk sex behaviors.

You may also be interested to know symptoms of cervical cancer in women, before continuing!

A routine pep test is intended to keep monitoring your body, so thus any changes of cells on your cervix can be identified as early as possible. Until today, this option is still the best option to prevent cervical cancer - though there is now also available vaccine to protect you from HPV infection (a kind of sexual transmitted infection that increases your risk of having cervical cancer).

Factors that influence how far you go to cure the cervical cancer!

There are some factors that influence the prognosis of patients, but in fact the stages and types of the cervical cancer are two major factors that have a significant contribution!

Types of cervical cancer

In general, this disease has two major types; adenocarcinoma and squamous cell cancer -- according to the U.K Cancer Research Organization!

As the name suggests, adenocarcinoma is a kind of cancer that occur in the gland cells of cervix -- these cells are also called as ‘adenomatous cells’, which are responsible to produce mucus.

And for squamous cell cancer, it is a kind of cancer that occurs on the ectocervix or the cervix’s outer surface. This type is more common than adenocarcinoma, even many doctors believe that today it is the most common type.

In addition, there are also other types of cancer that occur in the cervix -- though these types are very rare if compared with squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma! For instance, a kind of cancer that affects lymphatic system (or more familiar called as lymphoma) also can attack the cervix. You may also like to know about lymphoma symptoms!

Cervical cancer stages

Doctors classify cervical cancer into four major stages; stages I, II, III, and IV. Read also more detailed information about survival rates and stages of cervical cancer!

In general, once again as written before, the chance to cure cervical cancer is good if the disease is diagnosed /caught at early stages, particularly at the stage I.

In the stage I, the cells of cancer only occur in the cervix or they have not spread to other parts of the body. In this stage, there are some treatments (such as surgery and radiation therapy) that can work successfully to cure and remove the cells of cancer from the cervix.

The stage I itself can be divided into 4 types (based on the size of cancer); stages IA1, IA2, IB1, and IB2. Below is a helpful table:

(Table source: the U.K Cancer Research Organization)

So, is cervical cancer curable?

However there is no detailed enough of statistic that can explain what will happen to you!

Furthermore, though the stages and types of the disease are very crucial factors for the treatment & prognosis, but don’t forget that there are also other individual factors that affect the prognosis of patient. These other individual factors may include; age and performance status (PI).

Individual PI is a parameter to describe the overall health of patient. If patient is healthy /fit enough to take the treatment, she is likely to do better than average.

You might also like to know about is cervical cancer hereditary?

Crucial points you should concern for the treatment of cervical cancer!

The types and stages of the disease are not only associated with the prognosis, but also will influence the plan of the treatment. Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy are some common options of the treatment.

Before taking any treatment, the following are pieces of helpful information about some important questions that you should ask to your doctor:

1. First, you need to find a clearly diagnosis of the stage? Have the cells of cancer spread, if ‘yes’ - how far?
2. Ask about a copy of the report, which usually you can get from a pathologist! Will you get it?
3. Then ask completely about your treatment choices! Ask also the pros (such as the successful rate) and cons (such as side effects) of each treatment so thus you will be more confident to do your treatment!
4. Ask also how will your treatment affect your daily activities? 
5. Consider also about the ways to control /treat the side effects of each treatment!
6. If you still have a plan for pregnancy, tell your doctor! The plan of the treatment for patients who haven’t a pregnancy and for others who still want a pregnancy can be different.
7. Ask also about what you should prepare before beginning your treatment! 
8. Should you stay in the hospital during treatment? If so, ask your doctor for how long you need to stay in the hospital!
9. How about with the cost of the treatment, make sure your insurance will cover it!
10. What you should do to take care of yourself during your treatment?!
11. Don’t forget to ask about what is your chance of getting a full recovery? And what are the steps after the treatment, such as how often will you have to checkups after your treatment?!
12. And discuss also about a clinical trial with your doctor -- would it be right for you?!