Stage 3 cervical cancer
What is the stage of a cancer?
The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and whether it has spread. It helps your doctor decide which treatment you need.
What is stage 3 cervical cancer?
Stage 3 cervical cancer means the cancer has spread from where it started in the cervix into the surrounding tissue. It is divided into 3A, 3B and 3C.
What is the treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer?
Treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer is a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy (chemoradiotherapy). You might have chemotherapy before these treatments (neoadjuvant chemotherapy).
Stage 3 means the cancer has spread from the cervix into the structures around it or into the lymph nodes in the pelvis or abdomen. You might have chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy).
What is stage 3 cervical cancer?
The stage of a cancer tells you how big it is and whether it has spread. It helps your doctor decide which treatment you need.
Doctors use the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system for cervical cancer. There are 4 stages, numbered 1 to 4.
Stage 3 means one or more of the following. The cancer has spread away from the cervix and into:
- the lower third of the vagina
- the pelvic wall - the muscles or ligaments lining the area between the hip bones (pelvis)
- one or more of the tubes draining the kidneys (the ureter), causing kidney problems
- lymph nodes in the space between the hip bones (pelvic lymph nodes)
- lymph nodes in the tummy (abdomen) called para-aortic lymph nodes
Stage 3 can be divided into:
- stage 3A
- stage 3B
- stage 3C - which is then further divided into stage 3C1 and 3C2 if scans show cancer has spread to the lymph nodes
Stage 3A
Stage 3A is when the cancer has spread to the lower third of the vagina but not the pelvic wall.
Stage 3B
Stage 3B means one or both of the following. The tumour:
- has grown through to the pelvic wall
- is blocking 1 or both of the tubes that drain the kidneys (the ureters)
Stage 3C
Stage 3C means the cancer can be any size in the pelvis but has not spread to distant sites in the body.
If scans show cancer has spread to lymph nodes, 3C is then divided into:
- 3C1
- 3C2
Stage 3C1 means cancer is in the nearby pelvic lymph nodes.
Stage 3C2 means cancer is in the para-aortic lymph nodes (in the abdomen).
Treatment
The stage of your cancer helps your doctor to decide which treatment you need. Treatment also depends on:
- your type of cancer (the type of cells the cancer started in)
- where the cancer is
- other health conditions that you have
Stage 3 cervical cancer might be treated with:
- chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy)
- combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy (chemoradiotherapy) and brachytherapy
- a boost of radiation to any pelvic lymph nodes seen on a scan
- surgery to remove lymph nodes
Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy (chemoradiotherapy)
With this treatment, you have chemotherapy during your course of radiotherapy. You have chemotherapy once a week.
You have daily external radiotherapy for 5 days every week, for around 5 weeks. You also have internal radiotherapy (brachytherapy).
Before you have the above treatments, you might have chemotherapy. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
You might also have a boost of radiotherapy if there is a risk of any cancer cells in pelvic lymph nodes.
Surgery
Very rarely, you might have surgery to remove the lymph nodes around your cervix and womb (pelvic lymph nodes). This is because there is a risk the cancer may have spread from the cervix to the nearby lymph nodes.