A long time ago, the cervical cancer survival rate is pretty low. In fact, it's too low that it accounts for a huge number of deaths among women in the united states. With the increasing mortality rate of those who were under the disease, more women began pushing this cancer's education and awareness to protect the lives of both unaffected and affected females in the nation.
As of today, the number of lives taken due to cervical cancer is decreased with more women appreciating the benefits of early detection through regular and annual pap smears. Because more women are now more careful of their body and their health, cervical cancer is now deduced from being a killer disease to an illness that is easily prevented and detected.
Cancer of the cervix has 4 stages - stages 1 to 4. In this case, stage 1 is the earliest (and less dangerous) and stage 4 is the most dangerous.
Stage 1 has two phases: Stage 1A and Stage 1B. At the 1st phase, the Cervical Cancer Survival Rate is pretty agreeable at 96-99%. Since this is the first phase of your cancer experience, the cancer is still localized and may be easily taken by surgery. Stage 1B has around 80-90% rate of survival and may be treated with a combination of surgery, chemo and radiation therapy.
At stage 2, the cancer has already proliferated to the surrounding tissues outside the uterus. At a five-year time period, the Cervical Cancer Survival Rate of patients diagnosed during this stage is significantly lower at 65-69%. Treatment is the same with the previous stage but dosage and frequency of the medications and therapy sessions may be higher.
In most cancer cases, it is dangerous to leave the cancer untreated until it reaches the 3rd stage. It is because prognosis at this stage is very poor and the Cervical Cancer Survival Rate is quite low at 40-43% even with adequate chemo and radiation therapy.
At the fourth stage of the disease, the cancer may have already affected the distant organs such as the pelvis and even the intestines. Even with treatment, the percentage of survival is still at 15-20%.
Cancer of the cervix is equally prevalent among women with kids and without and also to women with active sex life or those without. Like most cancers, the direct and exact cause of cancer of the cervix is unknown but is loosely related to a woman's lifestyle, race and even her socio-economic status.
The preventative and detective measures primarily suggested by most medical practitioners are biannual or annual pap smear tests as soon as a woman begins engaging in active sex or as early as eighteen years of age.
By Mert Ozge
Posted in
Cervical Cancer Survival Rate,
Dare to Know Your Chances
Previously, cervical cancer survival rates were so poor amongst women. In fact, a long time ago, this type of cancer was the most common cause of cancer death in women. However, in the last 30 years, the mortality rate has decreased by 50% because of the widespread utilization of Pap smear.
In 2004, there were approximately 10,500 new cases of invasive cervical cancer and more than 50,000 cases of carcinoma in situ. There were 3,900 cases of reported death from this disease, but about 85% of them were due to the lack of preventative and detective methods like Pap smear.
Pap smear has an accuracy of almost 90 to 95% in diagnosing early lesions such as CIN. The only disadvantage is that it lacks the diagnostic sensitivity to detect cancer when the tumor or mass is thoroughly invaded with fungus. Inflammation, necrosis and hemorrhage can give false positive smears, and a proper biopsy may have to be used to confirm the existence of cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends that women who live an active sex life or those who are already at the age of 20 undergo annual smears for two consecutive years. If they are negative, the smear should be repeated every three years. This is seconded by American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology as well.
Cervical Cancer Survival Rates by Stage
Stage 0 is also what they call carcinoma in situ while stage I has a tumor that is confined to the cervix. Stage II indicates that the invasion has gone beyond the cervix but does not reach the wall of the pelvis and the lower third of the vagina. Stage III has a tumor that invades the wall of the pelvis or lower third of the vagina or causes hydronephrosis while lastly, stage IV is manifested by invasion of the mucosa of the bladder or rectum or an extension beyond the true pelvis.
Cervical Cancer Survival Rates at five years are reported as follows: stage I: 85%; stage II: 60%; stage III: 33%; and stage IV: 7%.
Carcinoma in situ (stage 0) can be treated successfully by excision of a cone of tissue or abdominal hysterectomy. In stage I the results are apparently comparable with radical hysterectomy and radiotherapy. Patients in stages II to IV are treated primarily with radical radiotherapy or combined modality treatment. Retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy has no proven therapeutic value. Pelvic evisceration, although rare, is performed to treat cancers that cause persistent or recurrent central. After this, intervention is often possible to reconstruct the vagina, bladder and rectum.
In women with locally advanced stages (stages IIB to IVA), cervical cancer survival rates are improved by administering platinum-based chemotherapy along with radiation therapy compared to treatment with radiation alone.
By Mert Ozge
Posted in
Cervical Cancer Survival Rate,
Dare You Know Your Chances
