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Vaginal tumors

Definition:
These are tumors (tissue growths) which arise in the vagina.

Alternative Names:
Vaginal cancer; Cancer - vagina; Tumor - vaginal

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

The majority of cancer in the vagina is the result of the spread of a different cancer, such as cervical or endometrial cancer, into the vagina. Primary vaginal cancer is very rare and only makes up about 1% of all gynecologic malignancies.

The vast majority of primary vaginal cancers are squamous cell carcinoma (85%). The remainder are adenocarcinoma (6%), melanoma (3%), and sarcoma (3%).

The cause of squamous cell carcinoma of the vagina is unknown, but up to 30% of patients have a prior history of cervical cancer.

About 75% of patients with squamous cell cancer of the vagina are over 50. Adenocarcinomas of the vagina more commonly affect younger women. The average age of diagnosis for adenocarcinoma of the vagina is 19.

Women whose mothers took diethylstilbestrol (DES) during the first trimester of pregnancy are at increased risk for developing clear cell adenocarcinoma.

Sarcoma botryoides of the vagina is a rare type of cancer that mainly occurs in infancy and early childhood.



Review Date: 8/6/2002
Reviewed By: Kevin Knopf, M.D., M.P.H., Hematologist/Oncologist and Director of Clinical Research, Annapolis Oncology/Hematology Center, Annapolis, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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