Treatments for stage 2 vulvar cancer

The following are treatment options for stage 2 vulvar cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.

Surgery is a main treatment for stage 2 vulvar cancer. The types of surgery are:

• a wide local excision
• a partial radical vulvectomy
• the removal of the lymph nodes from the same side of the groin as the cancer or both sides of the groin (inguinal lymph node dissection), depending on the location of the cancer
• a sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by a lymph node dissection if there is spread to the sentinel node or nodes

Radiation therapy is usually offered for stage 2 vulvar cancer. External beam radiation therapy is used:

• as the main treatment in women who cannot have surgery because of the location of the cancer or because they have other health problems
• before surgery, often with chemotherapy, to shrink a tumour and make it easier to completely remove
• after surgery, with or without chemotherapy, to reduce the risk of the tumour coming back (recurring)

You may be offered chemotherapy with radiation therapy for stage 2 vulvar cancer. The types of chemotherapy drugs used are cisplatin and fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil or 5-FU, Efudex). This drug combination is used to help the radiation work better.

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