Most Common Methods Of Cervical Cancer Treatment

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy may be needed to treat a cervical cancer patient to ensure all cancerous cells have been eradicated from the body. Radiation therapy is the utilization of high energy beams of particles or x-rays to damage or destroy cancerous cells. External beam radiation may be used to treat cervical cancer where a machine outside of the body focuses the x-rays or particle beams at the region where the patient's cancer is located. Radiation therapy is a common method used to treat even early stages of cervical cancer because it has fewer side effects than chemotherapy and can be used along with surgery. This combination ensures cancerous cells do not remain in the patient's body following their tumor excision surgery. Internal radiation treatment may be used, which is a method where a radioactive substance is placed in the body near the cancerous tissue to eliminate it. Sometimes internal radiation is combined in cycles with external beam radiation in the treatment of cervical cancer.