Standard Treatment There are two options for treatment. A radical hysterectomy may be done, with removal of the pelvic lymph nodes on both pelvic sidewalls. An alternative is external beam radiation therapy given in divided doses five days a week for five weeks combined with one or two intracavitary cesium insertions. Both options result in an equal cure rate. The choice depends on the age of the patient, her medical condition, the size of the primary cancer and the pathology .
Small lesions are usually operated on; large ones are treated with radiation. Women who have metastatic disease in the removed pelvic lymph nodes are frequently treated with five weeks of external beam radiation therapy to the pelvis following surgery.
Five-Year Survival 80 to 90 percent
Stage IIa
A Stage II cancer is one that either extends beyond the cervix but not to the pelvic sidewall (Stage IIb) or involves the vagina but not the lower third (Stage IIa).
Standard Treatment Treatment with either a radical hysterectomy and removal of the pelvic lymph nodes for a very small Stage IIa cancer of the cervix is feasible. However, a more frequent treatment is external beam radiation therapy followed by either one or two insertions of intracavitary cesium.
