Vaginal Cancer - Medical Malpractice Lawyer

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Vaginal Cancer Overview

Vaginal cancer is a disease where cancerous cells develop in the vagina. The vagina is the tube that extends from the external genitalia of the female to the cervix. It is the canal through which the fetus passes at the time of birth. Vaginal cancer is relatively rare. There are two types: squamous cell cancer, which spread out slowly from one spot and can spread to liver, lungs and bone; adenocarcinoma, which is more rare than squamous cell carcinoma, begins in the secretory cells of the vagina. It spreads to lungs and lymph nodes more likely than do squamous cell carcinomas.

Risk factors for vaginal cancer include:

• Being 60 years of age or older
• Being exposed to DES while in utero
• Having an HPV infection
• Having dysplasia or cancer of the cervix
• Having dysplasia or cancer of the uterus
• Having had a hysterectomy for uterine problems

Signs and symptoms of vaginal cancer include vaginal pain, abnormal vaginal bleeding, pain with intercourse, pain on voiding, lump in the vagina or constipation.

It is up to the doctor to have a high index of suspicion when the patient has several risk factors, and signs and symptoms of vaginal carcinoma, even if the disease is uncommon. Some tests that need to be done include a physical examination, pelvic exam, speculum examination and a pap smear, which might show vaginal abnormalities. A culposcope might need to be done to highlight under lighted microscopy the tissues of the vagina. Samples or a biopsy might need to be taken from the vagina and cervix to be looked at by the pathologist to see if they are cancerous.

There are certain factors affecting prognosis when someone has this diagnosis. They also affect the treatment options used:

• The size of the tumor
• The stage of the cancer (has it metastasized?)
• The grade of the tumor cells (how out of control they are)
• Where the cancer is inside the vagina
• If there are symptoms at diagnosis
• The patient’s age at diagnosis and state of general health

If it is found at early stages, vaginal cancer is often curable. The treatment options depend on the following factors:

• The stage and size of the cancer
• If it is a squamous cell or adenomatous cell cancer
• If the cancer is nearby to other organs at the time of diagnosis
• If the patient has had a hysterectomy or not
• If the patient has had radiation in the past or not

When the diagnosis has been made, it is time to see if the cancer has spread beyond the border of the vagina or not. Tests used to do this include a chest x-ray to look for metastasis to lung, CT scan of the body for distant metastases and nearness to nearby structures, MRI scan, which can pick up soft tissue metastases somewhat better than with CT scan, PET scan, which looks for radioactive malignancies in the body after injecting radioactive dyes to look for areas of increased uptake, and a cystoscopy, which can tell if the cancer has spread to the bladder. A uteroscopy checks to see if there is growth of tumor in the ureters. A proctoscopy checks to see of tumor has spread to the anus and rectum. Biopsies can be done at any one of these latter sites to see if tumor is present microscopically.

In staging vaginal cancer, there are four main stages and some sub stages:

1. In stage I, cancer is found only in the vaginal wall.
2. In stage II, cancer has spread to the tissue around the vagina but is still within the pelvis.
3. In stage III, cancer has spread to the wall of the pelvis.
4. In stage IVa, cancer has spread to areas near the vagina but outside the pelvis.
5. In stage IVb, cancer has spread to areas far from the vagina.

Medical Malpractice Lawyers

The medical profession which includes doctors, nurses and hospital technicians usually provides a caring service with a high standard of excellence however there are occasions when things do go wrong. Our litigation service is completely free and our lawyers will deal with your case using a contingency fee arrangement which means that if you don't succeed in receiving a financial settlement then your lawyer won't get paid.

The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here