PRIMARY SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE VAGINA - REPORT OF 4 CASES ANDREVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Four patients with primary vaginal invasive squamous cell carcinoma ar e reported. They accounted for 0.3% of all females with genital tract malignancies diagnosed in the south of Israel between 1961 and 1996. O ne patient had Stage I disease, one - Stage II, one - Stage III and on e - Stage IV. One patient was treated with external radiotherapy follo wed by intracavitary brachytherapy, one patient was treated with exter nal radiotherapy followed by interstitial brachytherapy, one patient h ad systemic chemotherapy and one patient had no treatment. At the time of writing, one patient was alive without disease, one was alive with progressive disease, one had died of disease and one had died of inte rcurrent disease. It is concluded that primary vaginal carcinoma is a very rare entity with an estimated incidence of about 0.1-0.2/100,000 women. Most patients present with tumor extending beyond the vaginal w all (Stage II, III and IV) and the mainstay of treatment for these pat ients is radiotherapy. The overall 5-year survival rate is about 50%.