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Vaginal Malignancy

Sareena Singh, MD, FACOG Reviewed 05/2023
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Carcinomas of the vagina are uncommon: 2–3% of gynecologic malignancies, 2,300 new cases annually.

  • Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN), defined by squamous cell atypia, is classi...

DIAGNOSIS

HISTORY

  • Abnormal bleeding is the most common symptom.

  • Postcoital bleeding can result from direct trauma to the tumor.

  • Vaginal discharge

  • Dyspareunia

  • Urinary symptoms, including hematuria and incre...

TREATMENT

GENERAL MEASURES

Treatment methods for VAIN and CIS include the following: 
  • Wide local excision

  • Partial or total vaginectomy

  • Intravaginal chemotherapy with 5% fluorouracil cream

  • Laser therapy

  • Intr...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Patients are usually ambulatory and able to resume full activity by 6 weeks after surgery.

  • Most patients are fully active while receiving chemotherapy and radiatio...

REFERENCES

1
Iavazzo  C, Pitsouni  E, Athanasiou  S, et al. Imiquimod for treatment of vulvar and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia. Int J Gynaecol Obstet.  2008;101(1):3–1...

ADDITIONAL READING

Wolfson  AH, Reis  IM, Portelance  L, et al. Prognostic impact of clinical tumor size on overall survival for subclassifying stages I and II vaginal cancer: a S...

CODES

ICD10

  • C52 Malignant neoplasm of vagina

  • D07.2 Carcinoma in situ of vagina

  • N89.3 Dysplasia of vagina, unspecified

  • C79.82 Secondary malignant neoplasm of genital organs

SNOMED

  • 372025005 Primary malignant...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Vaginal cancer is rare; 85–90% of vaginal cancers are squamous cell.

  • Vaginal malignancies are found most commonly on the posterior wall in the upper 1/3 of the vagina.

  • Most vaginal malig...

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