Cervical cancer can be treated if detected early

In order to reduce the number of women dying from cervical cancer, immediate intervention is required, says Dr Devan Moodley, an oncologist at the Donald Gordon Medical Center, in Johannesburg.

‘€œThe number hasn’€™t risen dramatically, but it’€™s certainly high. It will go down if we treat it properly, if we pick up these patients, if we start vaccinating. But if we don’€™t do anything about it, that number will go up’€, warns Dr Moodley.

The treatment of cervical cancer is most effective when the disease is detected in its early stages. Doctors use various forms of treatment in cervical cancer patients.

‘€œIf the cancer is picked up very early, then they can do what we call a cone biopsy, where you cut off the mouth of the womb and take the cancer away’€, says Dr Moodley. But when patients present later a more radical approach may be used.

‘€œUnder those circumstances we do a more extensive surgical procedure. The procedure involves taking away the womb, lesions and, sometimes, both the ovaries’€, he says.

Another form of treatment is radiation, which may be given alone,  with chemotherapy or after surgery. Radiation theraphy kills cancer cells and prevents them from multiplying.

‘€œWhat radiation does, is it cleans up the area locally – it sterilizes the area so that even though you may have cut out something, you may have left a cell or two, you can still then, with radiation, clean up the surrounding area.

Sometimes, not withstanding all of these things, the disease comes back or the disease presents as quite advanced. Under those circumstances, we either give them palliative radiation, which means radiation just to particular areas to control the disease or we give them chemotherapy’€.

Chemotherapy is another form of treatment that is used to kill abnormal cells and preventing their further reproduction. It is also used to slow down the progression of cervical cancer once it has spread through the body.

‘€œChemotherapy is a systematic treatment. In other words, (we’€™re) giving them treatment which is more often than not, intravenous. That means via a drip.

It’€™s putting chemicals through the body, it goes around the body and it kills cancer cells. When it’€™s early it is possible to cure, but when the disease has advanced, we’€™re giving chemotherapy purely for palliation. We don’€™t cure the disease. We merely control the disease and control the patient’€™s symptoms. Ultimately, the disease gets the better of the patient in those advanced cases’€, explained Moodley.

Like any other forms of treatment, the different treatments for cervical cancer have different side-effects.

‘€œUsually, from the chemotherapy perspective, you get side-effects like hair loss, nausea, tiredness.

With radiation the side-effects are local – in other words, where they radiate. You might get a little bit of inflammation of your bladder. Your bowels being affected, you might get a little bit of diarrhoea and you might get burned in the area – radiation burn.

The side-effects of surgery – it depends on whether something gets damaged along the way. You might, sometimes, get chronic pain syndrome in the area’€, said Moodley.

Dr Moodley strongly advises patients to go for regular check-ups after they have undergone treatment.

‘€œRegular follow-up is the integral part of treatment and management of patients with cancer. It’€™s only if it’€™s all clear and the doctor has seen her often, then she can say, ‘€˜listen it’€™s all fine, I’€™ll see you once a year’€™, but initially, regular check-ups are very important’€, he says.

To find out more about cervical cancer, visit the Cancer Association of South Africa  website at www.cansa.org.za or call the toll free number 0800 22 6622.

Click on the link  at the top  of the article  to access the audio and transcript.

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  • healthe

    Health-e News is South Africa's dedicated health news service and home to OurHealth citizen journalism. Follow us on Twitter @HealtheNews

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