Uterine Cancer Treatment Options - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Cancers

Uterine Cancer

Treatment Options

A treatment plan for uterine cancer is established according to several factors such as the location and the stage of the cancer, the patient's age and the general health state of the patient.

Treatment for uterine cancer involves a combination of surgery as the primary treatment, and radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy as the adjuvant treatment.

Surgery: Surgical resection is the primary treatment for uterine cancer. There are three type of surgeries available for uterine cancer treatment:

(1) Total hysterectomy is a medical procedure that completely removes the entire uterus. After this type of surgery, women no longer have menstrual cycles or are able to get pregnant.

(2) Transvaginal hysterectomy is a type of surgery performed through an incision in the abdomen or through the vagina

(3) Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is another medical procedure that removes the fallopian tubes and ovaries. After the removal of the ovaries, the woman will forcedly enter into the menopause stage and display different symptoms of menopause. In some cases, these symptoms can take on a severe form.

There are several side effects of the surgery like postoperative pain, nausea and vomiting (caused by the anesthetic) and fatigue. There are also several complications that can follow the surgery like hemorrhage, caused by the injuries produced to the surrounding blood vessels, injuries to adjacent organs, and thromboembolism, a blockage of a vein or artery caused by a blood clot.

After surgery, patients might be kept in the hospital for few days to a week and can return to their normal activities after 4 to 8 weeks.

Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy uses a highly focused x-ray to destroy cancer cells. It can be used as a neoadjuvant treatment, when administrated before surgery, or as an adjuvant treatment after the surgery was performed in order to destroy cancerous cells. There are two main forms of radiation therapy:

External beam radiation therapy: This form of radiation therapy uses a device called a linear accelerator that generates an external beam that is concentrated on the affected area and destroys the cancer cells or breaks up the tumor into small pieces. Usually, sessions last a few minutes and are administrated every day for several weeks. This procedure is similar to an x-ray. The most common side effects of external beam radiation therapy are: sunburned sensations or sunburned signs on the skin of the treated area, dryness, itching, tightening, and burning in the skin of the vagina, exhaustion, diarrhea, frequent and painful urination, and intercourse pains.
Internal radiation or branchytherapy: This form of radiation therapy uses a special applicator to insert pellets of radioactive material into the upper vagina.

Hormone therapy: Some uterine tumors contain on their surface a series of hormone receptors that attract and bind with estrogen and use it to grow. In these cases, one effective treatment is hormone therapy based on progesterone. Progesterone is another female hormone like estrogen which balances the estrogen effect and slows down the growing process of the tumors. Before this type of treatment is prescribed, the doctor will perform a test to detect if the tumor contains this type of hormone receptors.

Hormone therapy is a systemic treatment (affects cells throughout the entire body) used to treat metastatic and recurrent tumors, or used as a neoadjuvant treatment for those patient that cannot undergo surgery or radiation therapy.

The most common side effects of hormone therapy include: fluid retention, an increased appetite, weight gain, and changes in the menstruation, for those women in the premenopausal stage.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is another systemic treatment (that affects cells throughout the entire body) and involves an intravenous or oral administration of a series of cancer-killing drugs. These drugs enter the body through the bloodstream and are carried into different areas of the body to slow down the growth process inside the tumor and destroy cancer cells.

Chemotherapy treatment follows a specific cycle, where each treatment period is followed by a recovery period. A typical chemotherapy treatment lasts between 3 to 6 months.

Chemotherapy has several side effects that depends on the type of drug administrated, the drug amount, and the length of treatment. The most frequent side effects of chemotherapy include: nausea, vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of energy and mouth soreness, loss of hair, as well as hand and foot rashes. Other side effects of chemotherapy are damage of the blood-producing cells of the bone marrow, an increased chance of infection, and bleeding or bruising after minor cuts or injuries.

Article by Alina Morrow, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com

Sources:
http://www.canceranswers.com
http://www.gyncancer.com
http://www.cancer.gov
http://www.oncologychannel.com