Treatments for stage 3 cervical cancer

The following are treatment options for stage 3 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 to make the radiation therapy work better. Chemoradiation is the main treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer.

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

A type of internal radiation therapycalled brachytherapy is usually given during and after external radiation therapy.

Find out more about chemotherapy for cervical cancer.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells. You may be offered radiation therapy for stage 3 cervical cancer. People who have radiation therapy will 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 as the main treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer.

Find out more about radiation therapy for cervical cancer.

Immunotherapy helps to strengthen or restore the immune systemʼs ability to fight cancer. You may be offered immunotherapy for stage 3 cervical cancer.

The immune system normally stops itself from attacking healthy cells in the body by using specific proteins called checkpoints. Checkpoints slow down or stop an immune system response. Some cervical cancer cells can use these checkpoints to hide and avoid being attacked by the immune system. Immune checkpoint inhibitors work by blocking the checkpoint proteins so immune system cells (called T cells) attack and kill the cancer cells.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor drug that may be used for stage 3 cervical cancer.

Find out more about immunotherapy 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.