Penn Gynecologic Oncology offers the latest advances in chemotherapy and biologic therapy for treating cervical cancer.
Chemotherapy for cervical cancer
Chemotherapy may be given before surgery, after surgery or alone to treat cervical cancer. In addition to managing a patient's medical oncology treatment, gynecologic oncologists at the Jordan Center for Gynecologic Cancer work closely with dedicated chemotherapy nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners offer specialized care for those undergoing chemotherapy, making sure they receive seamless, coordinated care from the first chemotherapy session through follow-up care.
Hormone therapy for cervical cancer
Hormone therapy keeps cancer cells from receiving the hormones they need to grow and spread.
Hormones are chemicals produced by various glands in the body. They circulate in the bloodstream, and some hormones can affect the way certain cancers grow. Hormones that can stimulate cancer include:
- Estrogen
- Progesterone
- Testosterone
Hormone therapy blocks the production or the effects of these hormones and helps stop the cancer from growing. Treatment may include the use of drugs that change the way hormones work or surgery to remove the ovaries in order to stop hormone production.
Immunotherapy for cervical cancer
Cancer specialists at Penn Medicine are pioneers in using a patient's own immune systems to fight cancer. Immunotherapy involves triggering the immune system to fight the cancer or to lessen the side effects that may be caused by some cancer treatments.
Immunotherapy is designed to repair, stimulate or enhance the immune system's responses to cancer. The immune system fights viruses and bacteria to prevent disease; it can also play a role in preventing cancer from developing or spreading. The goal of immunotherapy is to enhance the body's natural defense and its ability to recognize and fight cancer.
At Penn, medical oncologists help the immune system function better by introducing substances that occur naturally in the body. The therapy may stimulate the immune system to make more of the substance, or the therapy may be a man-made version of that natural substance itself. Other types of therapies use cells from the patient's body, which are then altered in a laboratory and given back to the patient.
Immunotherapy is less invasive and less toxic because it uses the body's immune system to fight cancer cells. It works by:
- Targeting specific cancer cells, avoiding damage to normal cells
- Making cancer cells easy for the immune system to recognize
- Possibly preventing or slowing tumor growth
- Potentially preventing the spread of cancer cells
- Using the immune system better to more effectively attack cancer cells
Vaccine therapy for cervical cancer
Cancer vaccines teach the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells. Oncologists at Penn Medicine are recognized around the world for the research and development of cancer vaccine therapies.
When foreign cells such as viruses enter the body, the immune system responds to the invasion and clears the intruders. But cancer cells are not recognized as foreign. In fact, the immune system thinks cancer cells are normal cells and do not mount an immune response. Cancer vaccines "tell" the immune system to recognize and attack the cancer cells.
There are two types of cancer vaccines: preventive and treatment. Preventive cancer vaccines work just like vaccines used to prevent measles or polio. Harmless versions of the disease that stimulate an immune response are introduced to the body. When the immune system encounters these vaccines, it responds, eliminating the cells from the body, and develops a memory of them. This vaccine-induced memory enables the immune system to act quickly if it encounters the same substance in the future. The HPV vaccine that protects against the virus that can cause cervical cancer is an example of a preventive vaccine.
Cancer treatment vaccines treat cancers that have already occurred. They are intended to delay or stop cancer cell growth, shrink tumors, prevent cancer from coming back or eliminate cancer cells that are not killed by other forms of treatment. Some cancer vaccines are made with the cells from the patient’s own tumor, then reintroduced to stop or delay the cancer.