I often get this question from my patients: Doctor, I was diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer at another hospital, and the doctor said I should have radiation therapy. But I want to have surgery. I have been to three hospitals, can you help me to see if I can have surgery? I would say this reflects a common misconception about cervical cancer among Chinese people. It may be easier to understand, do you want to have surgery or do you want to be cured? The answer is, of course, that you want to be cured. For stage 2B cervical cancer, it has already developed parametrial invasion, and it is difficult to achieve effective tumor-free margins with surgery. That means we want to remove the tumor completely along the tumor-free margin beyond the tumor so as to ensure less chance of recurrence. Such a range should preferably be 2 cm beyond the tumor, at least 1 cm, and it is very difficult to achieve an effective margin for surgery in case of parametrial invasion, so the chance of recurrence is very high. Once recurrence occurs, it is quite difficult to treat. So here is the misconception, many people think that they can’t have surgery, isn’t it the end of my disease? In fact, the 5-year survival rate for stage 2b cervical cancer is at least 60-70% if you choose synchronous radiotherapy treatment. What is the concept? We cannot say for sure that the tumor patient is cured. Because some people have recurrence in 8 years, 10 years, or even longer, but of course such people are rare. Therefore, we can use the 5-year survival rate to reflect the effect of tumor treatment, which is the concept of cured as the people say. 5 years later, the number of patients with recurrence and metastasis will be much less. The explanation is that the chance of curing this disease with simultaneous radiotherapy treatment is at least 60-70%. Most people have every hope of being free from cervical cancer for life. The principle of treatment for stage 2B cervical cancer is to do synchronized radiotherapy, regardless of international or domestic guidelines. This method is recommended by doctors all over the world, which means that this treatment method is the best for this disease, right? Of course there are some people who are not cured, but we can say with certainty that surgery is much less effective than simultaneous radiotherapy. Therefore, I would like to say to these patients: your disease is not necessarily terrible, what is terrible is the lack of proper understanding of the disease, the wrong and stubborn choice of the treatment you want, and the long time spent bouncing from one hospital to another hoping to find a doctor who can operate on them. This is not good for the treatment of the disease! I hope you will start treatment as soon as possible and actively cooperate with your doctor. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!