Ulcerating cancers (fungating wounds)

Treatment for fungating tumours

Your treatment for a fungating (ulcerating) tumour depends on the type of cancer you have and any treatments you have had.

Treatment options for fungating tumours

Your medical team might offer you the following treatment for your fungating tumour:

surgery
chemotherapy
radiotherapy
hormone therapy
electrochemotherapy

Treatment aims to kill cancer cells and help to shrink a fungating (ulcerating) wound. This can reduce pressure on nerves, which can decrease pain. These treatments also aim to reduce oozing and bleeding.

But treatments are not suitable for everyone. Your doctor will discuss the possible benefits and side effects with you.

Surgery

It may be possible to have an operation to treat your fungating wound. But it will depend on the size and position of the tumour. It is not possible for everyone. Fungating tumours can damage blood vessels which can make surgery difficult to do.

Your doctor will tell you whether surgery might be an option for you.

Chemotherapy

You might have treatment with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to help shrink the tumour and reduce any symptoms. Chemotherapy is sometimes used in combination with targeted cancer drugs.

Chemotherapy and targeted drugs can be given as a drip into a vein (intravenously). Or sometimes they might be a cream that you apply to the skin. Creams that are used include:

fluorouracil
imiquimod

Go to the A to Z list of cancer drugs

Radiotherapy

Doctors often use radiotherapy to treat fungating (ulcerating) tumours.

Ulceration could seem worse in the beginning when you have radiotherapy. This is because the cancer cells die off. You might have a mild skin reaction to the radiotherapy, which causes redness and dry, flaky skin.

You may have some other side effects of radiotherapy. These will depend on the part of your body that is having treatment.

Read about radiotherapy for cancer wounds

Hormone therapy

Your doctor might recommend hormone treatment if your primary cancer responds to hormones. For example, if you have oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Hormone therapy can help to shrink the ulcerating tumour and slow down its growth.

With this type of treatment, signs of improvement could take 4 to 6 weeks to appear.

Electrochemotherapy

Electrochemotherapy is a combination of:

chemotherapy injected into the tumour or bloodstream
electrical current to help chemotherapy pass into cancer cells

Fungating tumours can cause discomfort due to bleeding. This symptom can be difficult to cope with. Electrochemotherapy treatment can help stop the bleeding and relieve the discomfort.

Read about electrochemotherapy

Last reviewed: 11 Jul 2023

Next review due: 11 Jul 2026

Cancer treatment

Treatments can include surgery, radiotherapy and drug treatments (such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy or targeted cancer drugs). Find out about treatments and how to cope with side effects.

Living with a fungating tumour

Having a fungating (ulcerating) tumour can affect you emotionally as well as physically. It can be hard to come to terms with the change in your body and how you see yourself.

Resources and support

There are organisations and resources to help support you if you have a fungating tumour.

Cancer and pain control

There are different causes and types of cancer pain, and many different ways of managing and treating it.

Targeted cancer drugs

Targeted cancer drugs work by ‘targeting’ the differences that help a cancer cell to survive and grow. They are one of the main treatments for some cancers.