Vaginal Tumor: Treatment, Cost and Side Effects

Vaginal tumor is a harmful form of tumor that forms in the tissues of the vagina. There are two types of tumors.

1. Primary: Cancer cells from the tumor spread to other parts of the body spreading from the place when it first started.
2. Secondary: the cancer cells spread to the secondary parts through the blood vessels.

One should always and always take expert advice before going for any treatment and the treatment should be given under the expert supervision with experienced doctor. Some of the treatment for the Vaginal tumor are as follows: Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN) The treatment depends upon the level or stage it is at, the following methods will be used accordingly.

1. laser vaporization The resection of tissue by converting it to gas with laser energy the tumors are vaporized as the tumors are very small. The patient will be given laser vaporization when the tumor is detected at the early or zero stage.
2. local excision The surgical procedure that will remove the tumor from the specific area through the surgery. This treatment will be given when the tumor is detected at 1 stage and the tumor is larger than 1.5mm
3. Intracavitary radiation (brachytherapy)

The radiation method giving the radioactive material through the needles, seeds, wires, or catheters directly sticking it to the body cavity like breast, vagina, skin, chest or head etc. this is the method of preventing the cells from expanding and mostly trying to kill the danger cells. This method is mostly given to people who are at the last stage and the tumor cells have spread to other parts of the body.

Surgery

The surgery will be the option when the tumor has grown more than 1.5mm and cannot be vaporized. The tumor is cut out with few of the healthy cells around it to make sure the tumor has not left in anymore cancer cells. But then if the cancer has spread to a large amount in the body then a part of vagina or the vagina will be cut out from the body in case of extreme level of cancer cells spreading in the body. If the cancer cells have spread to larger amount of organs nearby then the doctor will suggest the pelvic exenteration where the doctor will remove the organs around the pelvic. Organs like, bladder, ovaries, uterus, rectum and lower portion of your colon.

Radiation therapy

• External radiation therapy

The patient will positioned on a table and a large radiation machine is contrived around you in order to aim the treatment area for the infected cells. Most of the patients are given external radiation therapy.

• Internal radiation therapy

The person will notice certain symptoms before going to the doctor. The eligibility of the patient is decided by an expert and experienced doctor after the series of tests of diagnosis

The symptoms are:

1. Abnormal vaginal bleeding
2. Chronic pain for months
3. Pain after sexual intercourse
4. Feeling lump in vagina
5. Pain in your pelvis
6. Painful and frequent urination
7. Extreme vaginal discharge
8. Constipation

Even though these signs are very clear it does not confirm the vaginal tumor these symptoms also indicate infection. So it is extremely important to consult with an expert immediately and these signs should not be ignored. The doctor will suggest the screening test if there is no infection found and if the results are positive then the person will be eligible for the treatment under an expert supervision.

The reasons for women not being eligible for treatment are:

• If the patient is detected from any other infection
• If there is occasional or very small amount of bleeding
• If the patient is on proper cycle of menstruation

The surgery will have the side effects of

• Inability to give birth or conceive
• If the pelvic exenteration is done the patient will suffer through the survival without the organs.
• bladder problems
• induced menopause
• vaginal dryness
• painful intercourse
• bowel obstruction

The radiation therapy may cause the patient to feel

• tiredness (will be worse after two weeks and will get better as the treatment ends)
• Nausea and vomiting
• The radiation will also harm the healthy cells in the process of killing the harmful sells and will lead to many other problems
• The skin may become raw around the area where the treatment was given
• Radiation around pelvis can be severely irritating to the intestines and rectum
• Vagina shrinks and needs to be stretched

The post-treatment guidelines are as follows:

• Schedule for regular exams and tests
• other tests early detection (screening) tests to detect any other type of cancer
• list of side effects and the methods to deal with them
• Proper Diet with physical activity
• primary care provider (PCP) will be monitoring your general health care on regular basis
• Avoiding smoking, eating well, getting regular physical activity, and staying at a healthy weight will reduce the risk of cancer coming back in any other part of body.
• vitamins, minerals should be taken on regular basis
• doctor may do pelvic exams and Pap test, colposcopy and lab tests to look for signs of cancer coming back or left in the body

There are many cases where the patient won’t recover and will not survive but thanks to the science that the treatment methods are improvised and developed. The recovery of the patient will depend upon the stage / level of cancer the patient is on. If the cancer is detected at very early stage then there is 84% chance that the patient will survive. The chances of survival decreases with the increase of the stage of cancer patient are on. After the survival, the patient can take up to year or more to recover completely yet there is good chance that the survivor will have the side effects whole life.

The radiation therapy will range in different prices and different methods two cycles of radiation for one patient costs roughly PRs. 2, 47,000/- and the total cost will depend upon the therapies taken to survive the cancer one time. However in government hospitals the cost is much lower such as 30000-35000 for one or three sessions.

There is still a very good chance of the tumor to form again in the same part of body or in different parts of body due to the spreading of the cells which went untreated. However, fortunately there is a very good chance of the cancer not coming back. One can avoid such misfortunes by following the guidelines after the treatment and strictly following the rules and regulations of the post cancer treatment

There are many alternatives to the treatment depending on the stage/level or size of the tumor, such as:

• Laser vaporization
• Surgery
• Radiation
• chemotherapy
• post cancer treatment
• building strong immune system