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Treatment of Cancer of the vulva

Treatment of vulval cancer depends on a number of factors. The size of the cancer and whether it has spread to other parts of the body are considered, along with your general health.

Your doctor should tell you about the risks, benefits and side effects of the treatments being offered, and how they may affect your life afterwards. The treatments you may be offered are:

Surgery: This is the main treatment for cancer of the vulva. If the cancer is quite small, your doctor is likely to recommend an operation called wide local excision. The aim is to remove all of the cancer and – for extra safety - some of the healthy tissue around it.

If the cancer is bigger, it is more likely to have got into the lymph nodes. As well as removing the cancer from the vulva, your doctor may want to take out the lymph nodes in the groin, to try to stop the cancer spreading around your body. Rarely, the lymph nodes in the pelvis may be taken out too.

Your surgeon will not remove more tissue than is necessary, but if the cancer is quite large, you may need to have quite a lot of tissue removed. If your labia has to be removed (the folds of skin around your vagina) the operation is called a radical vulvectomy.

Radiotherapy: If your lymph nodes show signs of cancer you are likely to have radiotherapy after your operation. The aim is to destroy any cancer cells left behind after surgery.Radiotherapy uses radiation to kill cancer cells. It is usually given from outside the body using a machine that directs high energy X-rays at the cancer. This is called external beam radiotherapy.

Rarely, if a patient is not well enough for an operation, radiotherapy may be offered instead of surgery. Radiotherapy can also be used to help patients whose cancer cannot be cured. It can help to relieve symptoms and prolong a good quality of life.

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