Radiation therapy for vaginal cancer

Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells.

Radiation therapy is usually used to treat vaginal cancer. Your healthcare team will use what they know about the cancer and about your health to plan the type and amount of radiation, and when and how it is given.

You may have radiation therapy to:

• shrink a tumour before other treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy (called neoadjuvant therapy)
• destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will come back (called adjuvant therapy)
• relieve pain or control the symptoms of advanced vaginal cancer (called palliative therapy)

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy can be given during the same time period to treat vaginal cancer. This is called chemoradiation. Some chemotherapy drugs can help make radiation work better by making cancer cells more sensitive to radiation. Combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy can make radiation therapy more effective than using it alone.

The following types of radiation therapy are most commonly used to treat vaginal cancer.

During external radiation therapy, a machine directs radiation through the skin to the tumour and some of the tissue around it. External radiation therapy is also called external beam radiation therapy.

External radiation therapy can be used along with brachytherapy (a type of internal radiation therapy) to treat most stages of vaginal cancer. It may also be given alone to treat lymph nodes in the groin and pelvis or to areas where the cancer has come back (recurred).

Find out more about external radiation therapy.

Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy. A sealed container of a radioactive substance called an implant is placed in a body cavity or right inside the tumour. The radiation destroys the cancer cells over time.

Brachytherapy is usually combined with external radiation therapy to treat vaginal cancer.

Intracavitary brachytherapy is the most common type of brachytherapy used to treat vaginal cancer. It involves placing the implant in a special applicator inside the vagina.

Interstitial brachytherapy places the implant right into a tumour.

Find out more about internal radiation therapy.

During radiation therapy, your healthcare team protects healthy cells in the treatment area as much as possible. Side effects of radiation therapy will depend mainly on the size of the area being treated, the specific area or organs being treated, the total dose of radiation, the type of radiation therapy and the treatment schedule. Tell your healthcare team if you have side effects that you think are from radiation therapy. The sooner you tell them of any problems, the sooner they can suggest ways to help you deal with them.

These are common side effects of radiation therapy for vaginal cancer:

• fatigue
• skin problems
• diarrhea
• bladder problems, including discomfort, bleeding and the urge to urinate (pee) often
• nausea and vomiting
• a bowel obstruction
• lymphedema in the legs
• sexual problems including vaginal dryness, vaginal stenosis (when the vagina becomes narrower and shorter from scarring) and painful vaginal sex

Find out more about radiation therapy and the side effects of radiation therapy. To make the decisions that are right for you, ask your healthcare team questions about radiation therapy.