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Treatments

  • Pre-Cancerous Genital Disease

    Dysplasia, a pre-invasive genital disease, is common and can affect the cervix, vagina, vulva, and anus. When appropriately treated, cancer of these sites may be prevented. The link between infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) and these conditions has been well established. Most women diagnosed with dysplasia of the cervix have had an abnormal cervical Pap test. And most men and women with dysplasia of the anus have an abnormal anal Pap test. Clinical services are available to any woman diagnosed with cervical, vaginal or vulvar dysplasia. Any woman with an abnormal cervical Pap smear may also be eligible for evaluation. Clinical services are also available for the screening and treatment of anal dysplasia in men and women.

  • Surgery

    The main goal of surgery is to attempt a cure by removing the cancer from your vagina. During the surgery, a biopsy may be performed on the lymph nodes in the groin and the pelvis, where vaginal cancer often spreads, or metastasizes. The results of your biopsy will help your doctor see if the cancer has spread. If the lymph nodes have cancer cells, the doctor may need to remove other tissue during surgery. Surgery for vaginal cancer may include:

    • Laser Surgery: Instead of a knife, a laser beam makes bloodless cuts in the vagina to remove a tumor or surface lesion.

    • Wide Local Excision: If the tumor is relatively small, the surgeon can take out the cancer and some of the healthy tissue around it.

    • Vaginectomy: This surgery removes all or part of the vagina.

    • Total Hysterectomy: If the vaginal lesion involves the cervix or uterus, the best surgical option may be to remove the uterus, including the cervix. At Sylvester, 80 to 90 percent of hysterectomies are now done robotically.

    • Lymph Node Dissection: The surgeon may take out one or more lymph nodes to check under a microscope for signs of cancer. Pelvic lymph nodes may be removed for a cancer is in the upper vagina. If the cancer is in the lower vagina, groin lymph nodes may be removed.

  • Radiation Therapy

    In the case of smaller tumors, doctors often use radiation therapy to treat vaginal cancer. Your doctor may use low-dose chemotherapy along with radiation therapy (chemoradiation) to make your treatment more effective. After surgery, you may undergo radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.

  • Internal RadiationTherapy

    Radiation therapy is given as close to the cancer as possible. For early-stage vaginal cancer, the radiation source is placed in the vagina.

  • Chemotherapy

    Chemotherapy is a combination of cancer-fighting drugs that can be administered intravenously to kill any remaining cancer cells in the body.

  • Topical Chemotherapy

    A cream or lotion that may be given for squamous cell vaginal cancer, applied to the vagina.