  
|  |
|
|
|
Reviewed by Dr Philip Owen, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist
|
What is vaginal cancer?
Cancer originating in the vagina is a rare disease, accounting
for less than 1 per cent of cancers in women.
Many cancers involving the vagina have actually spread from
adjacent tissues, usually from the
uterus (womb) or
cervix (neck of the
womb).
Vaginal cancer is very rare among women of less than 50 years
of age and the average age of a woman at diagnosis is 60 to 65.
What are the symptoms of vaginal cancer?
There aren't many clear symptoms. If you have a bloody
discharge and bleeding during sexual intercourse or if you experience bleeding
from the vagina after the
menopause you should
always be examined by your doctor or gynaecologist.
Sometimes vaginal cancer develops silently, and is discovered
during examination for another reason, such as
cervical screening
(smear test).
How is vaginal cancer diagnosed?
Vaginal cancer arises from the lining cells of the vagina –
which is covered in a type of cell called squamous epithelium. It can therefore
be detected visually, using a magnifying instrument called a colposcope. This
is carried out by a gynaecologist in a short examination which is much like an
ordinary smear test.
A
biopsy is always
necessary to confirm the diagnosis.
Further tests such as scans can also be used to determine the
extent to which the cancer has already spread, which is known as the stage of
the cancer.
Stage 1 cancer is limited to the wall of the vagina.
Stage 2 cancer has spread through the vaginal wall but has not
extended outwards into the tissues of the pelvis.
Stage 3 and 4 cancer is that which has reached either the
bladder or lower bowel (rectum) or which has spread more widely, including
outwards into the pelvis.
How is vaginal cancer treated?
Surgery to remove a part or the whole of the vagina is usually
necessary. Technically, it can be a complicated operation for the surgeon
because the vagina lies so close to the bladder at the front, and the bowel at
the back.
This type of surgery is only performed by specially trained
gynaecologists in a small number of hospitals in the UK.
Radiotherapy may also be necessary.
What is the outlook?
As with most cancers, the long-term outlook depends on many
factors, the most important of which is the stage of the disease when it is
diagnosed. It is also modified by the fact that it is mostly older women who
have the condition.
About 70 per cent of women will still be alive five years after
treatment for stage 1 vaginal cancer but this falls to 15-20 per cent for stage
4.
|
Based on a text by Dr Erik Fangel Poulsen
|
Last updated 14.05.2005
|
 |
|
|
 |
| |      |
|
