The cervix is the lower and narrow part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Cervical cancer or cancer of the cervix is a reality for hundreds and thousands of women all over the world. Cancer of cervix is a slow progressing disease and takes a few years to develop.
Before the cells in the cervix turn malignant, they first undergo a change known as dysphasia. This means that the cells change and lose their normal appearance. After this stage, cancer sets in and starts spreading through the cervix and the surrounding tissue.
For women, who are of childbearing age, it is important for them know about the different treatment options available to them.
Usually when a woman has cancer of the cervix, hysterectomy is the solution. Here the entire uterus as well as a part of the vagina is removed through a surgical procedure. In case the cancer has advanced and affected the lymph nodes, even they are removed. However, many women do not want to lose their uterus as they want to remain fertile. For women like these, there are other treatment options like the loop electrosurgical excision or the LEEP procedure.
If a woman undergoes LEEP, then she will gain many benefits. The procedure is not very expensive, it is performed under local anesthesia and the success rate is quite high.
Another procedure that women can opt for is the cone biopsy. Here a cone-shaped sample of the affected tissue is removed. Thereafter, the woman is given radiation therapy externally which is limited to the pelvic region. And, she is also given a kind of radiation internally known as brachytherapy.
Thus, it can be said that today women have many options to treat cervical cancer other an opting for a hysterectomy.
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