Cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer in women in the United States. Most cases of cervical cancer, 80 to 90 percent according to the Mayo Clinic, affect the squamous cells that line the surface of the cervix. When the cancer is at an early stage and affects only the surface cells, the 5-year survival rate is as high as 90 percent, according to the Merck Manual.
Conization
Surgeons use conization or a cone biopsy both to diagnose and treat cervical cancer. For early stage cervical cancer that affects only a limited area of the surface of the cervix, the surgeon removes the cancerous cells using a scalpel to cut out the diseased tissue in a cone-shaped wedge. The National Cancer Institute reports that conization has been used successfully since the 1970s.
Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP)
Instead of using a scalpel, a doctor may choose to perform the loop electrosurgical excision procedure, or LEEP. In this procedure, a wire loop charged with an electric current cuts out the cancerous cells on the surface of the cervix.
Laser Surgery
Instead of cutting out a cancerous surface area, a doctor may recommend laser surgery. This type of surgery involves the use of a high-energy laser beam to kill the cancer cells where they're growing on the surface of the cervix.
Cryosurgery
Similar to laser surgery, cryosurgery kills cancer cells where they grow, in this case by freezing them. A special instrument delivers the freezing agent---liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide---to the affected area of the cervix. The frozen cells rupture and die.
Hysterectomy
Hysterectomy refers to the surgical removal of the uterus. For some women with early, noninvasive cervical cancer, a hysterectomy might be the best option, assuming that they do not want to become pregnant. For early stage invasive cancer in which the cancer cells have penetrated less than 3 mm into the surface of the cervix, doctors often recommend a simple hysterectomy to remove just the uterus and cervix. If the cancer affects tissues at a level deeper than 3 mm, doctors usually recommend a radical hysterectomy to remove not only the uterus and cervix but also nearby lymph nodes and part of the vagina.
Radical Trachelectomy
For women who need a hysterectomy for early stage cervical cancer but still want to have children, a newer procedure called radical trachelectomy, which spares part of the uterus, might be a possibility if the cancer is confined to the lower cervix. In this procedure, a surgeon removes the cervix, some of the nearby uterus, the upper part of the vagina and nearby lymph nodes. The remaining upper part of the uterus is then reattached to the vagina. A woman who has a radical trachelectomy can carry a pregnancy to term, but she will need a cesarean section to deliver the baby. The Merck Manual states that the rates of death and recurrence of cancer are the same with radical trachelectomy or traditional hysterectomy.
Radiation
For women with invasive early stage cancer, radiation can be just as effective as hysterectomy, according to the Mayo Clinic. Radiation therapy uses high-energy ionizing radiation to kill the cancer cells.
