Advanced cervical cancer is cancer that has spread outside of the pelvis, or cancer that has returned following treatment. This is sometimes referred to as metastatic, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer. To find out more about advance cervical cancer, please visit our information pages here.

Treatment for advanced cervical cancer helps control it or help relieve symptoms. There are few treatments routinely available, and we are working to change that.

Pembromizulab (Keytruda)

We have recently been campaigning for pembrolizumab to be available routinely for eligible women receiving treatment for advanced cervical cancer. We thank every woman who shared their experience of living with advanced cervical cancer and helped expand the access to this vital drug. Supporting this community is at the heart of our mission.

Pembromizulab is currently used elesewhere in the NHS, for non-small cell lung cancer patients, and patients with incurable secondary triple negative breast cancer. Evidence suggests that this drug could slow the progression of cervical cancer and provide valuable extra months at the end of a life.

In England the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and in Scotland the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), have approved the use of pembrolizumab to treat some patients with advanced cervical cancer. It is available through the NHS in Scotland and the Cancer Drugs Fund in England. Jo’s has been campaigning for equal access to pembrolizumab and have been providing the patient voice to the SMC and NICE as part of both consultations. Find out more >

We hope that pembromizulab will also be made available in Wales and Northern Ireland as soon as possible.

Some women in our community have been able to access pembrolizumab and have shared their experiences with us:

“The day I was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer, my oncologist spoke to me about a new-to-cervical cancer drug, pembrolizumab, that was being administered to patients at the Marsden for the first time on a compassionate basis. If I qualified, I would be one of a very small number of women receiving this novel treatment for cervical cancer in the UK. I agreed to waiting an extra week to have my tumour tested to see if I qualified and I then began treatment. After three infusions, including carboplatin, taxol and bevacizumab alongside pembrolizumab, I was given a midpoint PET scan which showed a “complete metabolic response” – the very best possible outcome.

There was no cancer activity visible, and my oncologist is fairly confident that the “chemo cocktail” including pembrolizumab is helping deliver good results.

I went from an initial diagnosis that included extensive lymphadenopathy, to having zero hotspots visible on my midway PET. As I near the finish line of this round of treatment, I am cautiously optimistic and beginning to think about the future again after so many months of worry, fear and utter despair. Pembrolizumab gives me hope that I can reclaim my life.

When I tell other women with advanced cervical cancer about being on pembrolizumab, all have said it was not made available to them, but they wished it were. I sometimes feel guilty for having been “at the right place, at the right time” because I certainly did nothing else to set me apart from these women to get access. Most of them wondered if I had gone the private route, which I hadn’t, and no one should not have to. I am very grateful to the Royal Marsden and the NHS for allowing me to receive this treatment, but why can’t my friends? To say we live in an unequal world is putting it mildly.”

Access to bevacizumab (Avastin)

Bevacizumab is now routinely available across the UK, thanks to significant campaigning. Find out more about Avastin (bevacizumab).

It was approved for use in England in 2015, in Scotland in 2016, and in Wales in 2022.

Some of our community have described their experience with Avastin:

“My daughter had Avastin. The consultant made a special case for her. It didn’t save her life, but it did give enough time for her and her brother to make up. They hadn’t spoken for nearly a year, and she got to see her beloved niece and nephew once more.”

“Avastin, in particular, I believe has had a huge part to play. My consultant explained that Avastin will add a number of months onto my life expectancy and that it is proven to improve treatment of chemotherapy alone. I have now exceeded my prognosis. I feel incredible that I was given the chance to receive this, although I do feel upset that not everyone is given the option to receive this miracle drug.”

Avastin is currently the only targeted medication in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that has been approved for treating advanced cervical cancer. Avastin has a proven overall survival benefit when added to chemotherapy in patients with advanced cervical cancer, extending life by many months in some cases. However, only a small proportion of patients with advanced cervical cancer are eligible to receive it, because common side effects of the disease – such as vaginal bleeding – means the drug is not always safe for them.