Preserving function and appearance after surgery Women often wonder how their vulva will look after a vulvectomy or if their organs will function in the same way. At MD Anderson, we focus on three things when doing vulvar surgery: Margin status Function Physical appearance Our goal is to remove the cancer while preserving function and avoiding drastic changes to the vulva’s appearance. The structures we remove most often during a vulvectomy are parts of the labia minora and labia majora.