Standard Treatment This stage is usually treated with radiation therapy or occasionally by the surgical removal of the uterus , the vagina and the bladder and/or rectum (pelvic exenteration).
Five-Year Survival 10 to 20 percent
Investigational Radiation therapy given in conjunction with chemotherapy .
Stage IVb
In Stage IVb there is spread to distant organs.
Standard Treatment Radiation may be used to relieve the symptoms of pelvic disease or isolated distant metastases.
Several chemotherapy drugs are useful for treating cervical cancer, but they are rarely curative. They include cisplatin or carboplatin , which has a response rate of 15 to 25 percent, and ifosfamide , which has a response rate of 30 percent.
Combination chemotherapy , including cisplatin + etoposide + bleomycin , has a response rate of 50 percent. Other drug combinations that have been used in women with metastatic disease include mitomycin-C + 5-fluorouracil + cisplatin, vinblastine + bleomycin + cisplatin and cisplatin or carboplatin + ifosfamide + bleomycin.
