Stage IIIA: In this stage the cancer invades the lower part of the patient’s vagina; however, still it does not affect the pelvic walls. Stage IIIA cervical cancer also does not reach the patient’s lymph nodes or any or her distant organs. According to statistics, 5 year survival rate of patients in this stage of the disease is 35%.

Stage IIIB: A patient is said to be in stage IIIB of cervical cancer in two situations. The first one is when the disease invades the patient’s pelvic walls blocking both or any one of her ureters; but, the distant organs and lymph nodes do not become cancerous. In the second situation, the cancer reaches lymph nodes of the patient’s pelvis; however, still no trace of cancer is found in her distant organs. Statistics suggest that 5 year survival rate of patients in this stage of the disease is 32%.

Stage IVA: Cervical cancer of this stage enters either the rectum or the bladder of the patient. However, her lymph nodes still stay free from cancer. In this stage, cancer also does not reach the distant organs i.e. the organs away from the patient’s pelvic region. The 5 year survival rate of patients in stage IVA of cervical cancer is 16%.

Stage IVB: The stage IVB is the final stage of the disease. In this stage the cancer invades the patient’s distant organs like the liver, lungs etc. Patients of this stage have a 5 year survival rate of 15%.

1. Cervical cancer screening is mostly done using the procedure called Pap test or Pap smear. During this test, the cells of a woman’s cervix (the region forming the intersection of vagina and uterus of a woman) are examined. This test can successfully identify precancerous abnormalities and cancer in the cervix. Pap smear is also used for detecting a urinary tract infection.
2. A Pap test involves the insertion of a speculum inside the vagina of a woman for gaining access to her cervix. Then, the physician collects a sample of the woman’s cervical cells; this is done by swabbing of the inside and outside of her cervix. Finally, the sample cells are examined by placing them under the microscope.
3. According to FDA, a woman must undergo the first Pap smear within 3 years of entering their sexual life or after completing 21 years of age. The ideal frequency at which a woman must undergo pap smears depends on factors like sexual history, age, whether or not cancer runs in her family, results obtained from previous pap smears etc. A woman, whose previous Pap tests revealed certain abnormalities, must undergo the test more frequently.
4. A woman must not have any sexual relationship or douche for 2 days before undergoing a Pap smear. During these two days, the woman must also avoid use of vaginal suppositories, contraceptive methods that need vaginal insertion and deodorant powders and sprays. A pap smear must not be conducted on menstruating women or on women who have used tampon during the past 2 days; such situations might have impact on the results of the test.

Vitamin A: This fat soluble vitamin works by improving the functioning of the immune system of women and protects their cervix from the free radicals. Free radicals are the primary factors leading to formation of cancerous and precancerous cells in the cervical region. Vitamin A is not only helpful in preventing the occurrence of cervical cancer, but also possesses the ability of reducing severity of this cancer type. Consumption of vitamin A is also necessary for repairing of the cervical tissues that are already damaged due to cancer. Common symptoms of cervical cancer like back pain, decrease of appetite, fatigue, abnormal bleeding are also controlled significantly by vitamin A. This vitamin is also beneficial in slowing down progression of cervical cancer and prevents its recurrence. You can obtain the required vitamin A for managing or preventing cervical cancer both in the form of supplements and from food sources. The common food sources of vitamin A are: lamb, turkey liver, duck, peaches, apples, apricots, peas, tomatoes, kale, broccoli, spinach etc.

Vitamin B2: This vitamin is also referred to as riboflavin. This water soluble vitamin helps in preventing formation of cancerous and precancerous cells in the cervix. Besides this, riboflavin is also useful in killing the human papilloma virus, which is the primary cause of cervical cancer. Doctors also recommend consumption of food items rich in vitamin B2 and riboflavin supplements for repairing the cervical tissues that are already damaged by cancer. Common signs of cervical cancer like inflammation around the cervix and the reproductive system of the patient can also be combated with vitamin B2. The food sources containing high amount of vitamin B2 are: fortified breakfast cereal, sardines, milk, eggs, mushrooms, almonds etc.

Contact the medical team in your locality: Women diagnosed with cervical cancer while being pregnant need to take a number of extremely difficult decisions. These decisions are generally absolutely personal to the would-be parents; however, they must seek guidance from support team. If you delay the decision, your treatment will also be delayed. However, sometimes decision making needs to be delayed depending on factors like: which stage of pregnancy the women with cervical cancer is in, the age of the patient, personal beliefs, family input etc. The support team for cervical cancer patients generally consists of a pathologist, an obstetrician, a surgeon and of course a cancer specialist. Often the team also includes a psychologist or psychological counselor for helping the patient in coping with the emotional problems associated with getting cervical cancer during pregnancy.

Get educated about the options you have for dealing with early stage of cervical cancer: Once you are diagnosed with cervical cancer, you will have to undergo numerous other diagnostic procedures that will mainly be conducted for finding our which stage of the cancer you are in. This means the doctors will try to find out how much the cancer has spread. For pregnant women, the doctors recommend tests that are absolutely safe for the growing fetus. If it is found that the cancer is still in its early stage i.e. it has not spread beyond the cervix, the doctors generally will suggest you to get a surgery done. The surgery will only remove a ‘cone’ formed of cancerous tissues from the patient’s cervix. It might result in miscarriage in some cases; so, if the woman has early stage of the cancer, the doctor delays this treatment until the woman gives birth.

Pap smear test is the key cervical cancer test that helps in identifying as well as preventing the disease. Cervical cancer mostly fails to cause symptoms & getting screened on a regular basis has assisted in reducing number of mortalities due to the disease.

Once cervical cancer starts developing, cells in the cervical region become irregular & show irrepressible growth. The cancer could even metastasize (spread) to other regions of the body. However when abnormality in cells are spotted sooner – which is mostly possible via cervical cancer screening plan, its prevention or treatment could then be done.

When cervical cancer is detected earlier it is vastly curable & women in such situations have a better prognosis post-diagnoses. According to the CDC recommendation, females must undergo the Pap smear test in 1 to 3 yearly intervals, based on what their age is. In several nations, around sixty percent of the cervical cancer cases are among females that have never undergone screening or have not got a Pap smear test done in the last 5 years.

Genital HPV (human papillomavirus) is among the vastly pervasive sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States. Even though this generally subsides by itself, there are a number of high risk HPV forms which are causal to cervical cancer among females.

Even though HPV isn’t the sole reason for cervical cancer, but during 2006, the latest information obtainable – 11982 females from the United States were identified with cancer of the cervix & 3976 females dying due to this condition.

An additional, newest inclusion to a physician’s tool case for lowering the possibility of developing cervical cancer is the HPV vaccine. According to the CDC recommendation, every girl & female in the age band of nine & twenty-six years old could garner benefits of the trio-injection series of the vaccination, alongside undergoing the indispensable cervical cancer test – Pap smear routinely.

Hence, during January as we all commemorate Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, all women should be proactively taking charge of their health, getting screened for cervical cancer & discussing with their physician if the HPV vaccination would be appropriate for them.

The novel cervical cancer test provides outcome over-night & has accuracy far surpassing that of pap smear testing presently followed for spotting preliminary indications of cervical cancer, as per the study scientists.

Costing merely fifteen pounds an instant, the cervical cancer test can be procured in general practitioners hospitals within a years’ time.

This advancement pursues studies conducted by researchers from Britain & the United States on thousand-plus females.

Another plus point of the new-fangled cervical cancer test is that a patient might require undergoing screening merely in 5-yearly time intervals as compared to 3-yearly intervals.

Scientists aver that smear test skips around 1/3rd of all cases of the disease – however the novel technique could spot nearly all of these.

Cervical cancer is accountable for approximately thousand deaths among females in Britain annually. The disease ranks second in the listing for most pervasive cancer type in younger females & close to three thousand novel cases crop up yearly. The novel method would help salvage around three hundred lives.

Disparate to pap smear testing that searches for irregular cells, the newest cervical cancer test called the Cobas test is capable of detecting HPV which is the offender for irregular cell development.

Scientists thus point out that the Cobas test could spot cancer comparatively sooner & has far greater reliability. Females can get the outcomes on the subsequent day. Results of the traditionally done pap smear testing could take nearly 5 weeks for analysis.

Since the eighties, all females above twenty-five years of age are recommended to undergo cervical smear testing in 5-yearly intervals at their general practitioner clinic or hospital. But, several females opt for doing so in 3-yearly intervals.

However despite this screening-program been given credit for improving survival rate in women, several physicians state that it is not reliable & subjective-based.

Consequently scores of females with apparently regular cervical cells in results might be having the human papilloma virus that has the high possibility of turning cancerous several months subsequent to normal test outcomes.

The novel cervical cancer test devised by Roche is analogous to pap smear testing wherein it examines small samples of cervical cells which are drawn from females. The Cobas machine checks for particular human papilloma virus strains identified to being cancer-causative.

Preliminary studies conducted by scientists from Britain & the U.S. on forty-seven thousand females post-thirty showed that it spotted HPV in no less than 1 among 10 patients that had normal pap smear testing results.

Doctor T. Wright at the Columbia Univ., N.Y. that conducted the trial stated that around 1/3rd females identified with cancer of the cervix have regular pap smear testing outcomes. He believes that the novel test could spot cancers in the huge majority of females.

Almost all cervical cancer cases are linked to HPV, though majority of the genitally located HPV infections don’t lead to cancer of the cervix. Study findings have shown that largely individuals who tested +ve for genital human papilloma virus DNA then tested –ve afterwards, mostly within six months to a year’s time. Researchers are yet unsure if this translates to that individual’s immune system has managed to totally destroy the entire existence of the virus or has managed to solely suppress the infection to a vastly less extent that fails to be spotted during testing. In case just some cells of the cervical region yet have the virus, it is likely that the virus might begin turning active once more when the individual’s immune system weakens.

Alterations in the cells of the cervical region might occur abruptly several years following exposure to HPV & could be high or low grade form. Such a postponement might aid in explicating how females can have such alterations following several years of regular Pap exams & no novel sex mate.

In case the cells continue to have HPV infection, the viral form might be causal to cells of the cervix changing & turning pre-cancerous. Factual pre-cancerous cell alterations are known as SIL or HSIL (CIN2, 3).

Pre-cancerous cells aren’t cancer and several pre-cancerous alterations might revert to regular by themselves. However majority of CIN type three cases which are not detected & treated could possibly advance to cancer of the cervix over around a decade. Yet, not many HPV infections are leading to cancer of the cervix. Pre-cancerous cells are spotted prior to them having the opportunity to develop into cancer by undergoing Pap smear test on a regular basis.

Here is the American Cancer Society Recommendation for Earlier Detection of Cervical Cancer.

• Women should ideally start getting tested for cervical cancer around three years subsequent to having begun engaging in sexual intercourse, however not past twenty-one years of age. Testing must be conducted annually with frequent Pap smear test or in two-yearly time interval employing the more recent liquid based Pap exam.
• In their thirties, women who have got three regular outcomes of annual Pap smear test consecutively must undergo testing in two to three yearly time intervals. Optionally one might undergo testing in three-yearly intervals with the HPV + Pap Tests. A number of females having particular risk factors might yet require undergoing testing on a yearly basis, according to the American Cancer Society recommendation.
• In case one is seventy years of age or more & having three regular Pap tests consecutively & no irregular Pap test outcomes in the past decade then the woman could halt undergoing testing. This should be discussed with your physician.
• In case a woman has undergone hysterectomy wherein her cervical and uterine regions have been removed could halt getting tested except when the surgery was conducted as a therapy for pre-malignant condition or cervical cancer. In case the woman is yet having a cervix then she must undergo testing.
• Several females deem that they don’t require examinations by health care experts no sooner have they halted having kids which is a completely erroneous belief. They must ideally be continuing to adhere to the American Cancer Society parameters.

Points to Bear in Mind

• HPV is a pervasive viral form and largely people from both genders who have been sexually active would contract HPV at some stage during their lifetime.
• Several females past thirty years of age might opt for undergoing HPV testing as part of their regular health check up.
• Undergoing the HPV test wouldn’t notify about whether one has cancer of the cervix. Hence, Pap exam is the finest means of cervical cancer detection or cervical changes.
• Since HPV treatment is not available yet women could avail therapies for HPV-caused cervical variations.
• Females who opt for HPV + Pap tests & get regular outcomes don’t require undergoing testing for three years.
• HPV presence does not essentially mean one would be getting cancer and majority of the times the virus would wither on its own.

Not only are the individual’s personal factors considered in determining which treatment is used for cervical cancer but also factors of the cancer itself. This would include how advanced it is and what specific areas are affected by it. These are key factors and are very important and necessary when making the final decision on the specific treatment method that will be of most benefit for the patient. Other information that will also be reviewed includes how many different treatment options will need to be used. As you can see, there are several options to consider in relation to cervical cancer treatment.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that is generally treated by using three different types of treatment methods. The most important would involve making sure patients receive HPV treatment before cervical cancer has a chance to occur. Other treatment methods that are commonly used would include the use of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. In several cases, just one form of treatment does not improve the cancer enough on its own. When this problem occurs, then your physician will generally suggest that it be used in conjunction with another form of treatment as well.

Before patients begin cervical cancer treatment, many physicians go out of their way to make sure that the patient is well informed about the treatment options that will be used, and that they feel at ease and comfortable before the procedures begin. Doctors will generally provide their patients with a description on how the procedure will be done, how long the procedure may take, common side effects and risk factors that surround each type of procedure, as well as the advantages and benefits that are involved with each treatment option. During this time it is extremely important to speak with your physician about any type of questions that you may have, or any type of concerns that may have come to mind. This helps to give patients confidence in not only their doctor, but also in the procedures they will undergo.

Two of the most common factors that increase the risk of cervical cancer are medical history and lifestyle particularly sexual proclivities. Human papillomavirus or HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that is thought to seriously increase the risk of developing cervical cancer. This virus is known to infect the genitals, genital tract and area surrounding the anus however not all types of this virus are dangerous and there is now a vaccine to protect against some types of HPV.

There are several factors in relation to sexual history that may increase the chances of developing cervical cancers. These factors may include age, number of partners and exposure. If a woman becomes sexual active at a very young age or has numerous sexual partners it may increase this risk. It may also increase this risk if a woman has sexual encounter with men who had contact with other women that had cervical cancer.

In addition to these factors there are other conditions which may contribute to cervical cancer causes including poverty, eating habits, history of abnormal pap exams and smoking.

When poverty is an issue women may not have the necessary access to receive regular gynecological exams such as pap smears. For this reason when abnormal cells form it goes unnoticed if no symptoms are present.

If a woman does not consume proper amounts of fruit and vegetables it may increase the risk of developing cervical cancer. Smoking may also increase this risk. How much smoking may increase the risk of cervical cancer depends on how long she has been smoking and how much she smokes on a regular basis.

Because most cases of cervical cancer are detected by abnormal pap exams not having these exams can significantly increase the risk of cervical cancer. This is because in many cases these abnormalities are not noticed without the aid of pap exams to detect them.

Women with low immune systems are also at an increased risk of developing cervical cancer. This is sometimes found in women who have tested HIV positive or have aids and in some cases in women who take medications to lower the immune system such as those that have had some sort of organ transplant.

In some cases exposure to some chemicals such as those found on farms or in manufacturing plants may also increase the risk of developing cervical cancer.

Although specific cervical cancer causes are not known it is helpful to know the factors that may increase the risk of developing this type of cancer. If you are in any of the increased risk groups you should above all have regular gynecological exams to detect this cancer as early as possible. The earlier cervical cancer is diagnosed and treated the better off you will be.

Stage 0

In this stage of cervical cancer, cells are only on the surface of the cervix and have not infected deeper tissues. This is the earliest stage of cervical cancer and is often commonly referred to as carcinoma in situ.

Stage I

This stage is divided into two sub levels which are also divided into additional sub levels. Each sub level indicates new developments in relation to the cervical cancer in question. In this stage the cancer cells have infected the cervix but have not spread past the cervix to other areas.

• Stage IA

In the earliest cases of stage IA cervical cancer can only be seen with the use of a microscope. In the early parts of this stage the affected area is usually a depth of less than 1/8 of an inch and a width of less than ¼ of an inch however by the end of this stage the depth may grow up to 1/5 of an inch in depth.

• Stage IB

In this stage cervical cancer has grown enough to be seen without the aid of a microscope and depth may now be in excess or 1/5 of an inch. By the end of this stage the cancer may grow to be as much as 1 ¾ of an inch or larger however in the early parts of this stage it is generally smaller.

Stage II

In the third of the cervical cancer stages cancer may have spread to nearby areas but still has not progressed beyond the pelvic area. In the early parts of this stage cancer may have spread to the upper portion of the vagina however the lower portion is still unaffected. By the end of this stage cancer may spread to the tissues close to the cervix known as the parametrial tissue.

Stage III

In the beginning of stage III cancer has most likely spread to include the lower part of the vagina and as by the end of this stage may also reach the pelvic wall and block urine flow to the bladder.

Stage IV

In the last of the cervical cancer stages cancer has started to spread beyond the pelvic region to include other areas of the body. This is cervical cancer at its most advanced stage and in most cases is considered incurable. Some of the areas of the body that cancer may have spread to by the end of this stage include the lungs, kidneys and other distant parts of the body.

In order to prevent cervical cancer from reaching this point it is important to maintain regular gynecological exams that screen for abnormalities in the cervical cells and report any usual symptoms to your doctor right away.