Treatments for uterine, endometrial, or cervical cancer include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and surgery. Your treatment plan may involve a combination of these options. Together with your doctor, you will develop a treatment plan based on:

• The type of your cancer

• The stage of your cancer

• Your overall medical condition²⁷

Your treatment plan may involve radiation therapy, which may be used before and/or after surgery and, in some cases, in place of surgery. This type of treatment employs high-energy radiation (such as x-rays) to kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy may be given externally during a procedure that is much like having a diagnostic x-ray. This is called external beam radiation therapy. The radiation is delivered from a machine outside the body. Radiation therapy also may be given by placing radioactive materials inside the body near the tumor. This is called brachytherapy.²⁸ 

Side effects of radiation therapy include:

• Fatigue

• Skin infection

• Diarrhea

• Bladder irritation

• Vaginal stenosis (narrowing)

• Premature menopause²⁹

Chemotherapy uses drugs that are administered through a vein or taken orally and then absorbed into the bloodstream. The drugs reach all areas of the body, making chemotherapy useful for cancer that has spread beyond the uterus. The choice of drugs, or combination of drugs, is determined by the type of cancer.

Side effects may include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, mouth and vaginal sores, hair loss, increased risk of infection, easy bleeding or bruising, and fatigue or shortness of breath. Most side effects stop when the treatment stops. There are remedies that can prevent or reduce the severity of side effects.³⁰

Hormonal therapy is mainly used to treat endometrial cancer and is rarely used for other types of cancers of the female reproductive system. The main hormonal treatments for endometrial cancer are progesterone-like drugs called progestins. The two most commonly used are medroxyprogesterone acetate and megestrol acetate. These work by slowing the growth of endometrial cancer cells. An anti-estrogen drug often used to treat breast cancer may also be used to treat advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. ³¹

Another approach is to use drugs to block a woman's estrogen-producing capacity. If a woman is premenopausal and hasn't had her ovaries removed, then a drug that blocks hormone production by the ovaries is used. These are called gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues or agonists (GnRHa). Most postmenopausal women can use drugs called aromatase inhibitors. These drugs block the small amounts of estrogen produced by tissues other than the ovaries. ³²

• Hysterectomy - your doctor may recommend a hysterectomy, or surgery to remove the uterus. Depending on the extent of the cancer, your surgeon may also remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes at the time of the hysterectomy. There are various types of hysterectomies your physician may recommend.

  During the most commonly performed hysterectomy, a total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH), the uterus is removed through a large incision in the abdomen. Recovery requires a hospital stay of three to five days. Normal activity may resume in six weeks. ⁴

  However, there are other surgical options for you to consider as well. Minimally Invasive Procedures (MIP), such as vaginal or laparoscopic hysterectomies, may result in less recovery time, less time in the hospital, less scarring, and less pain. Find out more about MIP for hysterectomy and whether or not MIP may be an option for you

  Click here to watch an animation comparing an open and minimally invasive hysterectomy.

  Get a list of surgeons in your area who perform MIP.

• Lymph node surgery—at the time of a hysterectomy, your surgeon may also remove the lymph nodes in the pelvis and in the lower abdomen in the back. This is done to determine whether or not the cancer has spread to these lymph nodes. This operation is done through the same surgical incision used for the hysterectomy. Although this may make the recovery period a bit longer, there should be no lasting side effects from lymph node surgery. ³³

• Cryosurgery—used for treating preinvasive cervical cancer, cryosurgery uses a super-cooled metal probe to kill the abnormal cells by freezing them on contact.³⁴

• Laser surgery—primarily used to treat preinvasive cervical cancer, laser surgery uses a focused laser beam, directed through the vagina, to vaporize (burn off) abnormal cells or to remove a small piece of tissue for study. ³⁵ 

• Conization—rarely used as a sole treatment for cervical cancer, conization removes a cone-shaped piece of tissue from the cervix. Using a surgical or laser knife or a thin wire heated by electricity, a surgeon may use cone biopsy if you have early cancer (stage IA, the earliest form, in which there is a very small amount of cancer, visible only under a microscope) and might want to have children. Conization may be used to establish the diagnosis of cancer before treatment with surgery or radiation. ³⁵

Find out how to start talking with your doctor about your symptoms.