Uterine cancer is treated by one or a combination of treatments, including:
surgery
radiotherapy
chemotherapy
hormone therapy
When your doctor creates your treatment plan, there are a number of factors to consider:
age
health condition
size and cell type of the tumour
how much cancer cells resemble healthy cells when observed under a microscope
any metastasis
For an early stage tumour, the treatment will involve surgery and post-operation radiotherapy. For advanced tumours, the doctor usually includes chemotherapy and follows with hormone therapy.
Surgery
A total hysterectomy is a common surgical procedure for uterine cancer.
The uterus, cervix and nearby tissues will be removed. For post-menopausal patients, the doctor usually performs a bilateral salpingo-
oophorectomy, which is the removal of both oviducts and ovaries. The removed parts will undergo pathological investigation to identify the cell
type and metastatic status.
Radiotherapy
Depending on the situation of each patient, the doctor may prescribe internal or external radiotherapy.
Post-operation radiotherapy can eradicate any remaining cancer cells after surgery.
Sometimes, the doctor may recommend radiotherapy rather than surgery.
Chemotherapy
Mainly used in the late stage or relapse of corpus uteri cancer to reduce the size of the tumor, slow down the growth and relieve symptoms; also
can be used in combination with surgery and radiotherapy.
Two common drug combinations for corpus uteri cancer: carboplatin & paclitaxel and cisplatin & doxorubicin. Different drug combinations
have varying side effects. You can understand more from your doctor about the drug names, dosage, side effects and relevant remedies before
treatment begins.
The whole treatment lasts for several months and after each dose, rest is required for several days to allow the body to recover from any side
effects.
Hormone Therapy
Some corpus uteri cancer has lutein receptors, which can be used to slow the growth of cancer cells by taking artificially lutein.
The side effects of Hormone Therapy are milder.
For more tips on post-treatment side effects, please download the ‘Hair Loss’, ‘Radiotherapy’, ‘Chemotherapy’, ‘Sex and Cancer’ booklets, or call Cancer Fund’s hotline 3656 0800 for a copy.
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