Treatments for stage 2 vaginal cancer

You may be offered the following treatments for stage 2 vaginal cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells. It is commonly used to treat stage 2 vaginal cancer.

A combination of brachytherapy and external radiation therapy to the tumour is usually the main treatment. Lymph nodes in the groin and pelvis may also be treated with external radiation therapy.

Chemoradiation may be used instead of radiation therapy alone to treat vaginal cancer. The most common chemotherapy drug given during radiation therapy is cisplatin, but other chemotherapy drugs may also be used.

Find out more about radiation therapy for vaginal cancer.

Surgery may be offered for stage 2 vaginal cancer. Surgery with a radical vaginectomy may be used if the cancer is small and in the upper vagina. Pelvic exenteration followed by vaginal reconstruction may used to treat vaginal cancer if you have had previous radiation therapy to the pelvis and can't have more radiation therapy.

Find out more about surgery for vaginal cancer.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. It is sometimes used to treat stage 2 vaginal cancer when surgery is not possible or when radiation therapy can't be used because you've already had radiation therapy to the pelvis.

Find out more about chemotherapy for vaginal cancer.

Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with vaginal cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.