Vaginal tumors Health Article

Definition

A vaginal tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the vagina, a female reproductive organ.

Alternative Names

Vaginal cancer; Cancer - vagina; Tumor - vaginal

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Most cancerous vaginal tumors occur when another cancer, such as cervical or endometrial cancer, spreads. This is called secondary vaginal cancer.

Primary vaginal cancer is very rare. Most primary vaginal cancers start in skin cells called squamous cells. The rest are adenocarcinoma (6%), melanoma (3%), and sarcoma (3%).

The cause of squamous cell carcinoma of the vagina is unknown. However, up to 30% of patients have had 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 at which adenocarcinoma of the vagina is diagnosed is 19.

Women whose mothers took diethylstilbestrol (DES) during the first 3 months of pregnancy are at increased risk for developing adenocarcinoma.

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

Symptoms

• Bleeding after sexual intercourse
• Painless vaginal bleeding and discharge
• Pain in the pelvis or vagina

About 5 - 10% of patients have no symptoms.

Signs and tests

In patients with no symptoms, the cancer may be found during a routine pelvic examination and Pap smear.

Other tests to diagnose vaginal tumors include:

• Biopsy
• Pelvic examination

If a Pap smear is abnormal but the health care provider cannot see problems with the vagina during a pelvic exam, a colposcopy may be done.

Other tests that may be done include:

• Chest x-ray
• CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis

Treatment

Treatment of vaginal cancer depends on the type of cancer, and how far the disease has spread.

Surgery is sometimes used to remove the cancer, but most patients are treated with radiation. If the tumor is cervical cancer that has spread to the vagina, then radiation and chemotherapy are both given.

Sarcoma botryoides may be treated with a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation.