Some new research has been published about treatment options for certain cervical cancer patients showing that for people who participated in the study, survival outcomes are up. We talked to people about what that means and why new research is so important in the fight against cancer. 

“Being told at 28 years old that I had stage 1 cervical cancer was just fear of the unknown, not really knowing what was going to happen around the bend,” said Cynthia Claravall, a cervical cancer survivor.

She now works as an associate director of development for the American Cancer Society. She's a big advocate for early screenings now she has a family to worry about.  

“I don’t necessarily worry about cervical cancer running in the family. What I do worry about is not taking the knowledge that I have about early screening and detection, and using that knowledge to protect my children.”

Since Claravall's cancer was early stage, she had surgery. The standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer is chemoradiotherapy, which is a combination of chemo and radiation.  

In a new study published in the journal The Lancet, researchers found that adding a six-week course of chemotherapy before the standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer resulted in a significant increase in survival rates.  

“We've started to look at different strategies to improve outcomes in patients with cervical cancer," said Benjamin Margolis, assistant professor of gynecologic oncology at Albany Medical Center. "So we kind of borrow concepts from other cancers and see if they work.”

In the experimental group of this study who got the chemotherapy first, 72% of people did not have any cancer return or spread, compared to 64% in those who got the standard treatment.  

“I think that giving chemotherapy before starting with chemo radiation is moving the needle forward," Margolis said. "And for a certain sub-stage of patients, it might make the difference between their cancer coming back or not.”

But to make a huge impact, Margolis said prevention is key. Claravall knows firsthand that early detection can make all the difference.

“Age 25 is when you should be screened for cervical cancer. So when my daughter becomes age 25, or my son becomes comes of age for any related HPV screening, I'm going to recommend that for them,” she said.