Cervix Cancer: Radiation therapy is highly effective and curative modality
Cervix cancer is the cancer of lower part of uterus and it is one of the most common cancer in Indian women. While the common perception is that for cervix cancer the best way to cure would be to surgically excise the uterus, actually this is incorrect.
Cervix cancer is best treated with focussed and precise Radiation therapy to the tumour and surrounding lymph nodes where tumour cells often get lodged.
In case surgery has been done, most patients would still require the full course of radiation therapy nonetheless, but delivering radiation therapy post surgery leads to risk of diarrhoea and loss of appetite.
Here’s a detailed look at the role of radiation in cervix cancer treatment:
1. Radiation therapy offers high rates of complete cure in Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer
• Standard of care for stages IB2 to IVA.
• Used in combination with low dose chemotherapy (usually cisplatin) — known as concurrent chemoradiation — wherein the job of chemotherapy is to enhance the effectiveness of radiation by 6-7%, leading to higher chances to achieve a complete cure.
3. Brachytherapy (Internal Radiation): The total dose of radiation which is required to cure cervical cancer is delivered in part by external radiation and in part by internal radiation.
• Internal Radiation delivers high-dose radiation directly to the cervix tumour and lower uterus while sparing surrounding organs like the bladder and rectum.
• Used in combination with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for effectively and completely curing the cancer.
4. Side effects of Radiation in Cervical Cancer
• With advanced radiation techniques, which precisely target the tumour and avoid radiation to normal tissues, the side effects are minimal and most patient experience no major side effects. In some cases, patients may feel a decrease in appetite and may also develop diarrhoea.
5. What are the chances of cure in cervical cancer, post radiation treatment ?
Radiation therapy, external plus internal, offers high chances of complete cure with more than 90% chances of complete cure in early stages and 70-80% chances of complete cure higher stages and advanced big tumours.
Dr Abhishek Gulia, has done extensive research work in Cervix cancer treatment with many important publications in scientific journals. One of the most important work was the result of his MD thesis, which translated into a publication regarding the ideal target volume which should be radiated and how exactly radiation is to be delivered for achieving best results in cervix cancer. Further details regarding these publications is available on google and in the ‘publications’ section of this website.
