Sources of support for patients with cervical cancer

Living with a serious disease such as cervical cancer is not easy. You may worry about caring for your family, keeping your job, or continuing daily activities. Concerns about treatments and managing side effects, hospital stays, and medical bills are also common. Doctors, nurses, and other members of the health care team can answer questions about treatment, working, or other activities. Meeting with a social worker, counselor, or member of the clergy can be helpful if you want to talk about your feelings or concerns. Often, a social worker can suggest resources for financial aid, transportation, home care, or emotional support.

Support groups also can help. In these groups, patients or their family members meet with other patients or their families to share what they have learned about coping with the disease and the effects of treatment. Groups may offer support in person, over the telephone, or on the Internet. You may want to talk with a member of your health care team about finding a support group.

Cancer Information Specialists at 1-800-4-CANCER and at LiveHelp (http://www.cancer.gov) can help you locate programs, services, and publications.

The promise of cancer research

Doctors all over the country are conducting many types of clinical trials (research studies in which people volunteer to take part). They are studying new ways to treat cervical cancer. Some are also studying therapies that may improve the quality of life for women during or after cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are designed to answer important questions and to find out whether new approaches are safe and effective. Research already has led to many advances, and researchers continue to search for more effective methods for dealing with cancer.

Researchers are testing new approaches to treatment, including anticancer drugs and drug combinations. They also are studying different methods, doses, and schedules of radiation therapy. Some trials are combining chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy. Other trials are researching biological therapy.

Researchers also are studying surgery to remove sentinel lymph nodes. A sentinel lymph node is the first lymph node to which the cancer is likely to spread. Today, surgeons often have to remove many lymph nodes and check each of them for cancer. But if the research shows that it is possible to identify the sentinel lymph node (the lymph node most likely to have cancer), doctors may be able to avoid more surgery to remove other lymph nodes.

People who join clinical trials may be among the first to benefit if a new approach is effective. And even if participants do not benefit directly, they still make an important contribution to medicine by helping doctors learn more about the disease and how to control it. Although clinical trials may pose some risks, researchers do all they can to protect their patients.

If you are interested in being part of a clinical trial, talk with your doctor.

NCI's Web site includes a section on clinical trials at http://www.cancer.gov/clinical_trials. It has general information about clinical trials as well as detailed information about specific ongoing studies of cervical cancer. Information Specialists at 1-800-4-CANCER or at LiveHelp at http://www.cancer.gov can answer questions and provide information about clinical trials.