Is cervical cancer treatable?

ASK AN EXPERT

[.highlighted] Q: Dear Teal, [.highlighted] You hear a lot of stories about cancer deaths or people that have beat cancer and are in remission. Is cervical cancer a treatable cancer?

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A: The good news is, cervical cancer is very treatable when caught early.

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In fact, 92 percent of cervical cancers are preventable (via screening and the HPV vaccination) if the changes are caught early.

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The bad news is that cervical cancer is often asymptomatic.  Because of this, many patients are diagnosed at a later stage when treatment may be less likely to be effective. That’s why it’s so critical to spread the word and make sure all the women in your life know about the importance of cervical cancer screening. 

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Cervical cancer is treated in a way typical of most cancers, with surgery to remove the cancer, medicine to kill the cancer cells, chemotherapy, and/or radiation therapy.

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Liz Swenson, MD, FACOG, MSCP
Medical Director & OBGYN

Liz Swenson is a board-certified OB/GYN who has been providing care to women for more than 20 years. She has learned that women are genuinely interested in their own health and want to understand the science behind their medical conditions. Originally from Iowa, she completed her medical training in Northern California where she still lives with her husband and two daughters. She has worked in a busy multispecialty practice in Palo Alto and has taught OBGYN residents as an Adjunct Clinical Faculty Member of Stanford University. Now, with a focus on helping all women have choices and access to the gynecological care they need, she is excited to use her clinical experience to help improve the lives and longevity of all Teal patients.

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Featured articles and stories

This week, the USPSTF proposed updates to the 2018 cervical cancer screening guidelines, acknowledging Primary HPV testing (self-collected or clinician-collected) as the recommended test.
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HPV is very common but remains stigmatized, which can affect how people experience cervical cancer diagnoses and care. To better support health outcomes, we need to rethink HPV risk and move away from stigmatizing sexual behavior.
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Today at the Hlth conference, we’ve announced that we’ve submitted to the FDA and shared results from our compiled report on our nationwide study which revealed that 94% of women – across all demographics, backgrounds, and locations – prefer at-home cervical cancer screening over traditional in-office Pap smears.
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Cervical cancer