Dr. Nir Hus: Staging cervical cancer

Deaths and new cases concerning cervical cancer hit 4,220 and 12,170, respectively. These are US statistics alone. Dr. Nir Hus once wrote about the multi-variant outcome analysis of Stage 1B of this anomaly. Cervical cancer stages are the determinant of the extent of damage in and the degree of treatment that doctors can perform on the female anatomy—by and without staging, figures surrounding these deaths and new cases can be altered.

Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Cambodiahealth.blogspot.com

Stage 1

The cancer cells slowly and stealthily develop in the tissues of the cervix: only regular Pap tests can scrape them out of hiding. Their growth is commonly linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. This self-contained growth is dubbed as the first stage, further classified into Stages 1A and 1B, representing respectively the smaller and larger growths. To experts like Dr. Nir Hus, size matters.


Stage 2

From within the neck of the womb, the nasty cells can spread into the surrounding tissues (Stage 2B) or right where the vagina closes into the uterus (Stage 2A) but not quite towards the vagina’s lower part or into the pelvic wall muscles and ligaments. Both sub-stages are also matters of tumor size.

Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Jama.com

Stage 3

This stage represents the cancer spread into the lower third of the vagina (Stage 3A) or through the pelvis (Stage 3B), in which the ureters are blocked.


Stage 4

The fourth stage is the bloodiest; the malignance taking root from the cervix has now spread into other organs such as the bladder or rectum (Stage 4A). When it has metastasized into the lungs, the form is further listed as Stage 4B.

Dr. Nir Hus Image Credit: Suite101.com

Treatment per stage varies from standalone or a combination of procedures: surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

Visit www.nir-hus.org for an overview of Dr. Nir Hus’ studies on cervical cancer.