Vaginal Cancer: Treatment Choices

There are many treatment choices for vaginal cancer. The treatment that's best  for you depends on the results of your lab tests, where the cancer is growing, and if it has spread. Your healthcare provider will also consider your age and overall health, as well as your own preferences. If you want to be pregnant in the future, your cancer care team will consider this, too.

Learning about your treatment options

You may have questions and concerns about your treatment options. You may also want to know how you’ll feel and function after treatment, and if you’ll have to change your normal activities.

The healthcare provider is the best person to answer your questions. He or she can tell you what your treatment choices are, how successful they’re expected to be, and what the risks and side effects are. Your healthcare provider may advise a specific treatment. Or he or she may offer more than one, and ask you which one you’d like to use. It can be hard to make this decision. It is important to take the time you need to make the best decision for you.

Understanding the goals of treatment for vaginal cancer

Treatment may help control or cure vaginal cancer. It can also improve your quality of life by helping to control the symptoms of the disease. The goal of vaginal cancer treatment is to do one or more of these:

• Remove the main vaginal cancer tumor

• Kill vaginal cancer cells

• Stop the growth or spread of vaginal cancer cells

• Prevent or delay the cancer growing back

• Ease symptoms of the cancer, such as pain or pressure on organs

Types of treatment for vaginal cancer

There are two main kinds of treatment for vaginal cancer:

• Local treatments. These remove, destroy, or control cancer cells in one part of the body. Surgery and radiation are local treatments.

• Systemic treatments. These destroy or control cancer cells throughout the whole body. Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment.

You may have just one treatment or a combination of these treatments:

• Surgery. Surgery is used to remove the cancer from your vagina. During surgery, a biopsy may be done on the lymph nodes in the groin and the pelvis. This is where vaginal cancer often spreads (metastasizes). The results of your biopsy will help your healthcare provider see if the cancer has spread. If the cancer has spread, other organs or tissue may need to be removed during surgery, or you may need more treatment after surgery.

• Radiation therapy. This treatment kills cancer cells with high-energy radiation. The radiation may come from a large machine that directs it into your body. Or radioactive material may be put inside the vagina for a certain amount of time. Healthcare providers often use radiation alone to treat vaginal cancer, especially when it’s smaller. Your healthcare provider may use low-dose chemotherapy along with radiation therapy to help make your treatment work better. You may get radiation treatment after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may be left.

• Chemotherapy. This is the use of medicines to kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy is used to shrink the cancer, while also reducing your chance that the cancer will spread to other parts of your body. You may have chemotherapy alone. Or you may have it with radiation to help make the treatment work better.

Clinical trials

Newer types of treatment may be available only through a research study. This is called a clinical trial. Talk with your healthcare provider about what clinical trials may be an option for you.

Making a decision 

Deciding on the best treatment plan may take some time. Talk with your healthcare provider about how much time you can take to explore your options. You may want to get another opinion before deciding on your treatment plan. In fact, some insurance companies may require a second opinion. You also may want to involve your family and friends in this process.