Is conservative treatment or surgery better for vulvar cancer?

Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
Updated on September 10, 2024
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Vulvar cancer is a malignant tumor in female gynecology. There are various treatment options for patients with vulvar cancer. The choice between surgical treatment and conservative treatment depends on multiple factors such as the patient's clinical stage and physical condition. For patients with early-stage vulvar cancer, radical surgical excision is the best treatment method. However, some patients with poor physical condition may not tolerate surgery and may instead receive curative radiotherapy or systemic chemotherapy as an alternative treatment. For patients with mid-to-late stage vulvar cancer, the best treatment method is comprehensive internal medicine treatments, such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy. For patients with advanced vulvar cancer who have a poor physical condition and cannot tolerate chemotherapy or other antitumor treatments, the best treatment method is conservative treatment aimed at maintaining stable vital signs.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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Is conservative treatment or surgery better for vulvar cancer?

Vulvar cancer is a malignant tumor in female gynecology. There are various treatment options for patients with vulvar cancer. The choice between surgical treatment and conservative treatment depends on multiple factors such as the patient's clinical stage and physical condition. For patients with early-stage vulvar cancer, radical surgical excision is the best treatment method. However, some patients with poor physical condition may not tolerate surgery and may instead receive curative radiotherapy or systemic chemotherapy as an alternative treatment. For patients with mid-to-late stage vulvar cancer, the best treatment method is comprehensive internal medicine treatments, such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy. For patients with advanced vulvar cancer who have a poor physical condition and cannot tolerate chemotherapy or other antitumor treatments, the best treatment method is conservative treatment aimed at maintaining stable vital signs.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
1min 15sec home-news-image

What will happen when vulvar cancer becomes severe?

Vulvar cancer is a malignant tumor of the female reproductive system. When vulvar cancer becomes severe, the lesions metastasize to many areas, which can cause serious clinical symptoms, severely affect the patient's quality of life, and even endanger the patient's life. For example, if vulvar cancer metastasizes to the inguinal lymph nodes, pain can occur in the area of the metastases. Additionally, mobility of the limb on the side of the metastases is limited, and swelling of the lower limb occurs. If the patient's lesions metastasize to the lungs through the hematogenous route, clinically the patient may experience coughing, expectoration, chest tightness, chest pain, and even some patients may have respiratory failure, which severely threatens their life. Some patients have bone metastases, and besides pain in the area of the bone metastases, some patients also experience pathological fractures, limited mobility, and significant pain.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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Is vulvar cancer stage III considered advanced?

Vulvar cancer is a type of malignant tumor in women's gynecology, which has a relatively low clinical incidence rate. For stage III vulvar cancer, it is considered advanced vulvar cancer. Advanced vulvar cancer indicates that the lesion has spread. For vulvar cancer with lesion spread, surgical treatment should be pursued if possible. For patients who cannot undergo surgery, options like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and other comprehensive combined treatment methods can be considered for cancer treatment. However, for patients with advanced vulvar cancer, the aim of treatment is mainly to improve the quality of life and extend the survival time, as complete clinical cure of the tumor is not possible. Only early-stage vulvar cancer, after receiving curative surgery or curative radiotherapy, may achieve a clinically cured effect.

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Written by Sun Ming Yue
Medical Oncology
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Late-stage vulvar cancer can spread to where?

Patients with vulvar cancer generally have lymphatic metastasis because there are many lymphatic vessels in the perineum, and the capillaries of the lymphatic system are interconnected. Thus, vulvar cancer can lead to bilateral lymphatic vessel spread. Initially, it leads to superficial inguinal lymph nodes, then it spreads to the bone lymph nodes below the groin, and eventually progresses to the lymph nodes alongside the aorta and the lymph nodes below the left clavicle. If the cancer is located in the clitoris, it may bypass the superficial inguinal lymph nodes and directly spread to the lymph nodes inside the pelvis. The tumor in the vulvar area will gradually increase in size; it generally does not invade the muscle fascia or adjacent structures. If the vagina is invaded, it can easily and immediately involve the levator ani muscles, rectum, urethral opening, and bladder, among others.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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Will the vulvar cancer be rotten in the late stage?

Patients with advanced vulvar cancer do not all show signs of internal ulceration. This is because, for most patients with vulvar cancer, the progression of the disease can lead to invasion of the surrounding tissues or distant metastasis. Some patients may experience heavy local infiltration, leading to tissue ulceration. However, most patients in the advanced stages primarily show symptoms related to lymphatic and hematogenous metastasis. When patients with advanced vulvar cancer develop lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, they may experience symptoms of metastatic lesions, such as inguinal lymph node metastasis causing limb swelling and pain. If there are distant metastases to the lungs, liver, or other areas, patients may exhibit respiratory symptoms such as coughing and expectoration, or liver-related symptoms such as pain in the liver area or decreased appetite.