Metastatic cervical cancer is when cancer that started in the cervix spreads to other parts of the body, making it more difficult to treat. There are two types of cervical cancer, with the second type spreading to lymph nodes and other organs. Treatment options include drugs, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, but life expectancy may be short.
A woman is diagnosed with metastatic cervical cancer when she has cancer that started in the cervix but has spread to affect other parts of the body. Unfortunately, this can be a scary diagnosis due to the fact that metastatic cancers are more difficult to treat than those that affect only one part of the body. When a woman has metastatic cervical cancer, the cancer has spread to other organs and sometimes to lymph nodes. For example, this diagnosis could mean that the cancer has spread from the cervix to affect the vagina, the wall of the pelvis, the bladder or the intestines. In its most severe stage, metastatic cancer can also affect more distant organs, such as the patient’s lungs or brain.
There are two basic types of cervical cancer. In one type, the cancer cells are confined to the cervix. In the other type, however, the cancerous cells spread and affect the patient’s lymph nodes, various body tissues and other organs. When cervical cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is often referred to as metastatic cervical cancer.
In the first stage of cervical cancer, the malignant cells that develop are confined to the patient’s cervix, but over time they may begin to spread. For example, in stage II cervical cancer, the cancerous cells spread to the upper part of the vagina and move towards the pelvic wall. In stage III, they may move to the lower part of the vaginal canal and invade the pelvic wall. As the cancer progresses, it can move to the patient’s bladder or other organs near the cervix. Eventually, the cancerous cells could travel far enough to invade the patient’s brain, lungs, or other organs in the body.
The spread of cervical cancer is also assessed by the spread of the cancer to the lymph nodes. Cervical cancer usually does not spread to affect the lymph nodes in the early stages of the disease. However, it may do so in later stages.
Doctors often use a variety of treatments for metastatic cervical cancer. For example, doctors might use anticancer drugs, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy to treat metastatic cervical cancer. Often, however, the life expectancy of a woman with this type of cancer is short, and some treatment approaches may be focused on keeping the patient comfortable for the rest of her life.
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