Overview

Vaginal cancer is a rare cancer of the female reproductive system. The vagina (birth canal) is the opening through which menstrual fluid leaves the body and babies are born. It is connected to the cervix (the opening of the uterus or womb) and the vulva (folds of skin around its opening).

Usually, the vagina is in a collapsed position with its walls touching. The walls have many folds that allow the vagina to open and expand during sexual intercourse and vaginal childbirth. The vaginal lining is kept moist by mucus released from glands in the cervix.

The vaginal walls have a thin layer of cells called the epithelium, which contains cells called squamous epithelial cells. The vaginal wall, underneath the epithelium, is made up of connective and involuntary muscle tissue, lymph vessels, and nerves.

Vaginal cancer begins when normal cells in the vagina begin to change, grow uncontrollably, and no longer die, forming a mass called a tumor. A tumor can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). There are four types of vaginal cancer:

Squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma is a type of skin cancer that begins in the cells lining the vagina, most often in the area closest to the cervix. Squamous cell cancer makes up 85% to 90% of vaginal cancers. It develops slowly through a precancerous condition (changes in cells that may, but do not always, become cancer) called vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN).

Adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinoma begins in the vaginal gland tissue. It accounts for 5% to 10% of vaginal cancers.

Clear cell adenocarcinoma. This cancer occurs in young women whose mothers took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy between the late 1940s and 1971. It is estimated that one woman in 1,000 exposed to DES will develop vaginal cancer.

Melanoma. Melanoma is another type of skin cancer that is usually found on skin exposed to the sun, but it can begin on the skin of the vagina or other internal organs. Melanoma often appears as a dark-colored tumor on the lower or outer parts of the vagina. Learn more in the Cancer.Net Guide to Melanoma.

Statistics

Vaginal cancer is rare. Only 1% of women with a cancer of the reproductive system have vaginal cancer. In 2009, an estimated 2,160 women in the United States will be diagnosed with vaginal cancer. It is estimated that 770 deaths from this disease will occur this year.

The overall five-year survival rate (percentage of women who survive at least five years after the cancer is detected, excluding those who die from other diseases) for vaginal cancer is around 50%.

Cancer survival statistics should be interpreted with caution. These estimates are based on data from thousands of cases of this type of cancer in the United States each year, but the actual risk for a particular individual may differ. It is not possible to tell a woman how long she will live with vaginal cancer.

Statistics adapted from the American Cancer Society's publication, Cancer Facts & Figures 2009.

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