Cervical cancer survival rates

Survival rates decrease as the stage of cervical cancer becomes more advanced and the cancer involves other body organs.^{1, 2}

Cervical cancer survival rates

Stage of cancer	Tissue involvement	Treatment	5-year survival rate
Stage IA	Microinvasive with minimal invasion into deeper cell layers	Cone biopsy or hysterectomy	97%
Stage IB	Minimal invasion into deeper cell layers	Surgery or radiation plus chemotherapy	70% to 85%
Stage II	May extend beyond the cervix such as into the upper vagina, but not into the connective tissue surrounding the uterus or onto the pelvic wall	Surgery or radiation plus chemotherapy	60% to 70%
Stage III	Cancer involves the pelvic sidewall and lower vagina	Radiation and chemotherapy	30% to 45%
Stage IV	Cancer has spread to other body organs (metastatic disease)	Radiation and chemotherapy	12% to 18%

Chemotherapy given at the same time as radiation treatment (chemoradiation) improves survival rates in stages IB, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB, and stage IVA cervical cancer.^{3, 4, 5}

About 35% of women with cervical cancer will have persistent or recurrent disease.⁶ Recurrences usually develop in the first 2 years after initial treatment, so close monitoring is recommended.⁷

Citations

1. Bristow RE (2003). Cervical cancer. In JR Scott et al., eds., Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology, 9th ed., pp. 923–939. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

2. Holschneider CH (2003). Premalignant and malignant disorders of the uterine cervix. In AH DeCherney, L Nathan, eds., Current Obstetric and Gynecologic Diagnosis and Treatment, 9th ed., pp. 894–915. New York: Lange Medical/McGraw-Hill.

3. Waggoner SE (2003). Cervical cancer. Lancet, 361: 2217–2225.

4. Thigpen T (2003). The role of chemotherapy in the management of carcinoma of the cervix. Cancer Journal, 9(5): 425–432.

5. Eifel PJ, et al. (2004). Pelvic irradiation with concurrent chemotherapy versus pelvic and para-aortic irradiation for high-risk cervical cancer: An update of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Trial (RTOG) 90-01. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 22(5): 872–880.

6. Greer BE, Koh WJ. (2002). Diagnosis and treatment of cervical carcinomas. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 99(5): 855–866.

7. Janicek MF, Averette HE. (2001). Cervical cancer: Prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutics. CA, A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 51: 92–114.