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5 treatment settings, 4 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Biopsy with immunohistochemistry to exclude metastasis; MRI and PET-CT staging; DES exposure history.
Histopathology means looking at cancer cells under a microscope, and immunohistochemistry stains them for specific proteins. Together they are still the foundation of every diagnosis.
MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves, with no ionising radiation, to picture soft tissue in finer contrast than CT, so it is the standard scan for brain tumours, prostate, rectal cancer staging, liver lesions and breast screening in high-risk women. It is slow, expensive and blurred by movement.
PET and CT in one machine, so hot spots on the PET are pinned to exact locations on the CT.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Radical vaginectomy or radical hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy, with vaginal reconstruction and ovarian preservation where appropriate; adjuvant radiotherapy for close margins or positive nodes.
Protecting the ability to have children before cancer treatment that damages eggs, sperm or the womb: sperm and egg or embryo freezing, ovarian tissue freezing, ovarian shielding and, for some breast cancers, temporary ovarian suppression.
IMRT and IGRT shape the radiation beam to the tumour's outline from multiple angles and check the patient's position with a scan before every session, so surrounding organs receive less dose. Fewer, larger doses are now standard in breast and prostate cancer, but a low-dose bath still spreads across normal tissue.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
External beam radiotherapy with brachytherapy, with concurrent cisplatin by extrapolation from cervical cancer.
IMRT and IGRT shape the radiation beam to the tumour's outline from multiple angles and check the patient's position with a scan before every session, so surrounding organs receive less dose. Fewer, larger doses are now standard in breast and prostate cancer, but a low-dose bath still spreads across normal tissue.
Brachytherapy places a radioactive source directly inside or next to the tumour.
Cisplatin is the original platinum chemotherapy, discovered by accident in 1965; it cures testicular cancer and makes radiation work better in cervical and head and neck cancer.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Platinum-based chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel); checkpoint inhibitors for mismatch-repair-deficient or PD-L1-positive tumours; pelvic exenteration for isolated central recurrence.
Carboplatin is a platinum chemotherapy that crosslinks DNA; it is part of the standard pre-surgery regimen for triple-negative breast cancer.
A microtubule poison discovered in the Pacific yew tree, among the most used chemotherapies in breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.
Pembrolizumab is a PD-1 blocking antibody approved in more than 40 settings, from melanoma and lung cancer to the first tumour-agnostic approval for mismatch-repair-deficient tumours in 2017, and before and after surgery in triple-negative breast cancer. A subcutaneous form arrived in 2025, and it is the backbone partner for ADCs and personalised neoantigen vaccines.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothyroidism (immune-mediated) · Pooled monotherapy data, >2,800 patients | 8% | - |
| Pneumonitis (immune-mediated) · Pooled monotherapy data, >2,800 patients | 3.4% | - |
| Colitis (immune-mediated) · Pooled monotherapy data, >2,800 patients | 1.7% | - |
| Hepatitis (immune-mediated) · Pooled monotherapy data, >2,800 patients | 0.7% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Lifelong annual gynaecological examination with cytology of the cervix and vagina and colposcopy of adenosis.
Looking at the cervix with a magnifier after a positive screen, then removing the abnormal patch with an electric wire loop in a clinic visit.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.