"Precise sniping" of cervical cancer! Precise radiotherapy helps an octogenarian recover "painlessly"

At the twilight of her life, 88-year-old Mrs. Chen (pseudonym) encountered a major challenge in her life - cervical cancer. Due to her advanced age and the limitations of her condition, surgery and chemotherapy were no longer feasible options. The oncology team of Yiyang Central Hospital said: "Radiotherapy can control the tumor." Mrs. Chen and her family decided to receive treatment and bravely fight cancer to the end!

Radiotherapy, the "precision sniper" against tumors, "targets" tumors through the perfect combination of external irradiation and close-range afterloading radiotherapy. External irradiation is like a carefully planned "airstrike" that can accurately deliver energy to the tumor while leaving the surrounding normal tissue intact. Close-range afterloading radiotherapy is more like a "special forces" infiltration operation, directly delivering the "fatal blow" to the core of the tumor.

Radiotherapy played a key role in Mrs. Chen's fight against cancer. Through precise external irradiation and brachytherapy, the tumor was effectively "hit". After 9 weeks of 25 external irradiation radiotherapy sessions and 5 brachytherapy sessions, the tumor was gradually defeated and finally disappeared! A checkup one month after treatment showed that the tumor in Mrs. Chen's body was gone, proving the "power" of radiotherapy.

It is worth mentioning that the advancement of modern radiotherapy technology has made the treatment process almost "painless". In this fight against cancer, the optimism and persistence of Mrs. Chen and her family also played a key role! At the end of 2024, Mrs. Chen's radiotherapy ended nearly two years ago. The reexamination results showed no recurrence or metastasis, and the effect was gratifying!

What are the indications for radiotherapy for cervical cancer?

The indications for radiotherapy of cervical cancer are quite broad, mainly as follows:

1. For patients with advanced cervical cancer, radiotherapy is a radical treatment method.

2. For patients with high-risk factors for recurrence after surgery for early-stage cervical cancer, such as lymph node metastasis, positive resection margins, and intravascular cancer thrombus, postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy should be performed, which can reduce the recurrence rate by 50%.

3. For patients with postoperative recurrence, radiotherapy should be the first choice, as it has a higher chance of being cured again.

4. For advanced patients with distant metastasis, radiotherapy can relieve pain and improve the quality of life.

References

NCCN Cervical Cancer Guidelines 2024

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Zhang Fan from Yiyang Central Hospital

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(Edited by YT)