New developments in the treatment of invasive cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is a preventable disease that is curable when it is detected early. For advanced-stage cancer, the prognosis is worse. Over the years, much progress has been made in radiation therapy and in chemotherapy, but it took three decades for the arrival of concurrent chemoradiation therapy, which significantly improved the survival among women with advanced cervical cancer. This fact underscores the need and the importance for continuing efforts in clinical research. While current standards of therapy are being fine-tuned as more information is being gathered, great strides are being made in the areas of molecular and cancer biology. Novel treatments for cervical cancer appear to be imminent in the near future.