Treatment for cervical cancer
Your doctor is part of a multi disciplinary team that will discuss your situation. They will decide with you about the best treatment options for your case. This team includes a:
doctor specialising in cancer drug treatment such as chemotherapy (medical oncologist)
doctor specialising in radiotherapy and cancer drug treatment (clinical oncologist)
surgeon specialising in cancer of the female reproductive system (gynaecological oncologist)
doctor specialising in the care of women during pregnancy (obstetrician)
doctor specialising in the care of newborn babies (neonatal doctor)
expert in examining and identifying cells (pathologist)
psychologist or counsellor
nurse specialist
To make a decision, you will need full information about your options. Your medical and nursing team can help with this. They can tell you about the benefits and possible risks of each option.
Pregnancy usually lasts between 37 and 42 weeks and is split into 3 stages. They are known as trimesters. Most women diagnosed with cervical cancer during pregnancy are in the first two trimesters.
There is not enough good evidence to say how being pregnant affects the outcome of cervical cancer.
Your doctor may treat stage 1A1 cancer with a cone biopsy. The best time to do this is between weeks 14 and 20.
If the border around the removed tumour contains cancer cells, you might have another cone biopsy. This is called a positive margin.
If a pelvic lymph node removal is positive, your doctor may suggest ending the pregnancy.
If you wish to continue the pregnancy, your doctor may suggest having chemotherapy. This will only be after the first trimester.
If the lymph nodes are negative, your doctor may suggest:
a trachelectomy
delaying treatment until after delivery
Read about radical trachelectomy
Treatment may include:
neoadjuvant chemotherapy
delaying treatment until after delivery
If a pelvic lymph node dissection is positive, your doctor may suggest ending the pregnancy. If you decide to end the pregnancy, you will have a:
radical hysterectomy
pelvic lymph node removal
If you wish to continue the pregnancy, your doctor may suggest having neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This will only be after the first trimester. Or they may suggest delaying treatment until after delivery.
Read more about a hysterectomy
Treatment may include:
neoadjuvant chemotherapy
delaying treatment until after delivery
Delivery will be by caesarean section. After delivery, you will have a:
radical hysterectomy
pelvic lymph node removal
Treatment may include:
neoadjuvant chemotherapy
ending the pregnancy
Treatment may include:
neoadjuvant chemotherapy
delaying treatment until after delivery
Delivery will be caesarean section. After delivery, you might have either surgery or radical chemoradiotherapy.
Read more about surgery and chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer
Deciding on treatment when you are pregnant can be very difficult. You will need some time to think and to find out what all your options are. Make sure you have had the opportunity to ask all the questions you need to ask. You can also ask if there is anyone else you (and your partner) can talk to such as a specialist nurse or counsellor.
Last reviewed: 27 Nov 2023
Next review due: 27 Nov 2026
If you are pregnant and have an abnormal screening test, what happens next will depend on your test result.
Your treatment depends on several factors. These include what type of cervical cancer you have, how big it is, whether it has spread (the stage) and the grade. It also depends on your general health.
The stage of a cancer tells you about its size and whether it has spread. The type means the type of cell the cancer started from. The grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
Treatment for cervical cancer can affect your fertility. This can be hard to come to terms with, but support is available.
Coping with cervical cancer can be difficult. There are things you can do and specialists who can help you cope with a cervical cancer diagnosis.
Cervical cancer is when abnormal cells in the lining of the cervix grow in an uncontrolled way. The cervix is part of the female reproductive system.
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