Treatment for vaginal cancer
Chemoradiotherapy is treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy together.
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells. These drugs are also called . The drugs circulate throughout the body in the bloodstream.
Radiotherapy uses radiation, usually x-rays, to destroy cancer cells.
Your treatment plan depends on:
how far your cancer has grown (the stage)
where the cancer is in your vagina
how well you are
Your doctor will discuss your treatment plan with you and ask you to sign a consent form.
Read more about the stages of vaginal cancer
Chemoradiotherapy is the main treatment for vaginal cancer that is stage 2 to 4a. You might have chemoradiotherapy for stage 1 cancer if surgery isn’t a suitable treatment for you. This might be because of the size of the cancer, or where it is in your vagina. Or you might have other health conditions that mean you're not well enough to have surgery.
You might have chemoradiotherapy after surgery if there are cancer cells in your . Or if the surgeon can’t remove all of the cancer. This is called adjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
You usually have a chemotherapy drug called cisplatin with radiotherapy. You have this as an injection into your vein once every week for 5 weeks. You usually have treatment in the chemotherapy day unit.
Read more about cisplatin and other chemotherapy drugs
Watch the video below about what happens when you have chemotherapy. It is almost 3 minutes long.
Read more about chemotherapy for vaginal cancer
You have radiotherapy using a machine that is outside of your body. This is called external radiotherapy. You have treatment each day for five days a week. Your treatment usually lasts around 5 weeks. You have it in the hospital radiotherapy department. Before you begin radiotherapy, you have a CT scan to plan your treatment. The scan shows the cancer and the area around it. At your planning appointment, the radiographers make pen marks or small tattoos on your skin in the treatment area. The plan they create is just for you. Your treatment starts a few days or up to 3 weeks after the planning session. When you have treatment your radiographers line up the radiotherapy machine using the marks on your skin. Then they leave you alone in the room for a few minutes for the treatment. This is so they aren't exposed to radiation. You need to lie very still. The machine makes whirring and beeping sounds. You won’t feel anything when you have the treatment.
This type of radiotherapy won't make you radioactive. It's safe to be around other people, including pregnant women and children.
Find out more about radiotherapy for vaginal cancer
You have blood tests before and during your treatment. They check your levels of and other substances in the blood. They also check how well your liver and kidneys are working.
After the chemoradiotherapy you might have internal radiotherapy. This means giving radiotherapy from inside the body. It is also called brachytherapy.
Find out about having internal radiotherapy
Most people will have some side effects from chemoradiotherapy for vaginal cancer.
Combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy can make side effects worse. But everyone is different and the side effects vary from person to person. You might not have all the effects mentioned. The side effects gradually get worse during the treatment. They can continue to get worse after your treatment ends. But most of the effects begin to improve after 1 or 2 weeks. Tell your healthcare team about any side effects you have. There are things they can do to help.
Common chemotherapy side effects include:
feeling sick
loss of appetite
losing weight
feeling very tired
increased risk of getting an infection
bleeding and bruising easily
diarrhoea and constipation
hair thinning or loss
Read more about the general side effects of chemotherapy
Common radiotherapy side effects include:
tiredness and weakness
diarrhoea
passing wind
pain passing urine
skin changes such as soreness, dryness or a change in colour
feeling or being sick
Last reviewed: 17 Oct 2025
Next review due: 19 Oct 2028
Vaginal cancer is when abnormal cells in the vagina start to divide and grow in an uncontrolled way.
Your treatment depends on a number of factors including the type and stage of cancer and where the cancer is in your vagina.
Chemotherapy uses anti cancer drugs to destroy cancer. You might have it with radiotherapy for vaginal cancer, or as your main treatment if your cancer is advanced.
Radiotherapy uses high energy waves similar to x-rays to kill cancer cells.
There is support available to help you cope with a diagnosis of cancer, life during treatment and life after cancer.
Vaginal cancer is very rare. It starts in the vagina, which is the passage that leads from the neck of the womb (cervix) to the vulva. Vaginal cancer is more common in older women.
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