Cervical Cancer Staging

Cervical cancer staging is important to determine treatment of cancer of the cervix. Symptoms of early cervical cancer stages are a rare occurrence, so the stage of disease a patient is at can come as a surprise.

Cervical cancer staging is determined by measuring tumors and the spread of the disease within the pelvis and distant organs. Cervical cancer has 4 stages. Treatment of cervical cancer becomes more difficult at higher stages. Therefore, early detection is significant for remission of this cancer.

What is Cervical Cancer

Cervical Cancer is commonly caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection. There are preventative screening methods for cervical cancer, including routine pap screening and HPV testing, because symptoms in early cervical cancer stages are a rare occurrence. Treatment of cervical cancer is dependent on the stage of the illness and options to embrace surgical procedure, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Cervical Cancer Stages

Cervical cancer is staged I (1) through stage IV (4). The higher the stage, the more the cancer has spread and the more advanced it is. Staging cancer can help with determining treatment, as similar stages of cervical cancer typically receive the same type of treatment.

Cervical cancer staging can be complex and hard to understand. However, the American Cancer Society has guidelines to which cervical cancer is staged, based on where the cancer has grown and spread, and the tumor’s size.

Cervical Cancer Stage I

Stage I is when the cancer cells have grown into the deeper tissues of the cervix, but not yet spread to nearby lymph nodes or distant sites. There are different levels of Stage I cervical cancer, that measure the depth that the cancer has grown into the cervix, as well as size.

Stage 1b1 cervical cancer

Cervical Cancer Stage II

Stage II is when the cancer has spread beyond the cervix and uterus, but has not yet spread to the walls of the pelvis or lower part of the vagina. Different levels of Stage II are also monitored, based on size of the tumor.

Cervical Cancer Stage III

Stage III occurs when the cancer has spread to the walls of the pelvis and the lower portion of the vagina. Different levels of Stage III are if only one of the areas have been reached by the cancer, the walls of the pelvis or the lower part of the vagina, and if the cancer is blocking ureters, which can cause kidney problems.

Cervical Cancer Stage IV

Stage IV occurs if the cancer has spread into the bladder or the rectum, or also more remote places like the lungs or bones. Stage IV has different levels, which are if the cancer has spread to the bladder and rectum, or also other distant organs.

Cervical Cancer Clinical Trials

Regardless of cervical cancer stage, we have options for you. Call us today to discuss your options, get a second opinion with the Virtual Tumor Board or get matched to clinical trials near you using our Artificial Intelligence based Clinical Trial Matching System. A patient advocate will guide you through trial-matching, qualifying and enrollment, helping you every step of the way and answering any questions you may have.