What to Know About Chemotherapy for Vaginal Cancer
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| Chemotherapy drugs kill all rapidly dividing cells, including cancer cells. |
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. For this treatment, you will see a gynecologic oncologist or a medical oncologist. A medical oncologist is a doctor who specializes in using drugs to treat cancer.
Many women who have chemotherapy for vaginal cancer have it combined with radiation. This is called radiosensitization or chemoradiation. This helps radiation work better. It also reduces the chance that the cancer will spread. It may be used by itself or before or after surgery.
Chemotherapy may also be used in women whose cancer has spread and who can’t have radiation or surgery.
How You Take It
You may take these drugs by an IV (intravenously) into a vein or by a pill. In some cases, chemotherapy drugs may be in a cream or lotion applied to the affected area of your body.
Chemotherapy given by IV or pill is a systemic treatment because the drugs travel all through the body in the bloodstream. Chemotherapy given as a cream or lotion is local treatment. Most women with vaginal cancer have chemotherapy in an outpatient part of the hospital, at the doctor’s office, or at home. In some cases, depending on your health or the drugs you take, you may need to stay in the hospital during treatment.
You receive chemotherapy in cycles. This means you will be treated for a time with chemotherapy and then you will have a rest period. Each treatment and rest period make up one cycle. You’ll likely have more than one cycle of treatment. Your doctor will explain what your treatment plan will be and what you can expect. The length of each treatment period differs, depending on the type of drug you take. With many types of chemotherapy, monthly treatments are common. Sometimes you will get chemotherapy more often.
Common Drugs Used
These are common chemotherapy drugs used to treat vaginal cancer.
If you receive chemotherapy and radiation together, you will likely have low doses of Platinol (cisplatin) or Adrucil (fluorouracil, 5-FU), or both, with radiation.