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.