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Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer
Cervical Cancer Recurrence Following Treatment
The risk of recurrent or persistent CIN-2 or CIN-3 or invasive cervical cancer after treatment is relatively low with rates between 1% and 21%. One study in the United Kingdom reported the rate of invasive cervical cancer in this group to be 5.8 per 1000. Lesion size appears to be an important determinant of the rate of recurrence or persistence, with large lesions showing higher treatment failure rates that smaller lesions.
No standard treatment is available for women with recurrent cervical cancer that has spread beyond the original radiation or surgical fields. For locally recurrent disease, pelvic exenteration surgery can lead to a 5-year survival rate of 32% to 62% in some women.
For recurrence in the pelvis following radical surgery, radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy may provide significant benefit.
Women with recurrent cervical cancer are also appropriate candidates for clinical trials testing drug combinations or new anticancer agents. This option can be discussed with your provider, and information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the National Cancer Institute Web Site at www.cancer.gov.
