Treatments for stage 2 cervical cancer

The following are treatment options for stage 2 cervical cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.

Chemoradiation combines chemotherapy with external radiation therapy followed by internal radiation therapy (brachytherapy) to make the radiation therapy work better. Chemoradiation is the main treatment for stage 2 cervical cancer. It may also be given after surgery.

The most commonly used chemotherapy drugs are cisplatin alone or cisplatin plus fluorouracil (also called 5-fluorouracil or 5-FU). If cisplatin alone is used, it is usually given once a week during the radiation therapy schedule. If cisplatin and fluorouracil are used, they are usually given every 4 weeks during radiation therapy.

Find out more about chemotherapy for cervical cancer.

You may be offered surgery for stage 2 cervical cancer. The type of surgery you are offered depends on many factors, including your age, the stage of the cancer (2A or 2B) and if you want to become pregnant in the future.

Find out more about surgery for cervical cancer.

A radical hysterectomy removes the uterus, the cervix, the upper part of the vagina and some of the surrounding tissue and nearby lymph nodes.

A radical hysterectomy with removal of lymph nodes in the pelvis and samples of lymph nodes in the back of the abdomen may be offered for stage 2A cervical cancer. You may be offered a radical hysterectomy if you do not want to become pregnant in the future. Radiation or chemoradiation may be given after a radical hysterectomy.

Find out more about a hysterectomy.

A lymph node dissection is surgery to remove lymph nodes. A pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is the removal of lymph nodes from the pelvis.

A PLND may be offered for stage 2B cervical cancer. Radiation therapy or chemoradiation is given after.

Find out more about a lymph node dissection.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells. You may be offered radiation therapy for stage 2 cervical cancer, usually as part of chemoradiation. Chemoradiation is used as the main treatment if you can’t have surgery or choose not to have surgery. It’s also used after surgery if there are cancer cells in or close to the edges of the removed tissue, in blood vessels or lymph vessels in the removed tissue, or in lymph nodes.

External radiation therapy may be given alone for stage 2 cervical cancer or with a type of internal radiation therapy called intracavitary brachytherapy. People who have radiation therapy will often have both external radiation therapy and brachytherapy. In most cases radiation therapy is given with chemotherapy, but in some cases it may be used alone.

Radiation therapy is usually given 5 days a week for 6 to 7 weeks. Brachytherapy is usually given after external radiation therapy or chemoradiation.

Find out more about radiation therapy for cervical cancer.

Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with cervical cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.