What are the types of Vaginal Cancer?

January 29, 2005 (Press Release) -- What are the types of Vaginal Cancer?


The most common type of cancer in the vagina arises from the lining squamous cells, and is thus called "squamous cell carcinoma" . These squamous cells often divide to heal injury, and the more frequent their division, the greater the chance for a cancerous one to arise. Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for for 85% of vaginal cancer cases in the UU.S.A. The next most common type arises from glands, it is called "adenocarcinoma" and accounts for 10% of vaginal cancer in the U.S.A. The remaining 5% of cancers are a mixture of vaginal melanomas (from pigment cells), sarcomas (from fat or muscle cells) and lymphomas (from immune cells). The treatment for these rare cancers follows their treatment in other body areas where they are more common. Squamous carcinoma is usually found in women between the ages of 60 and 80. Adenocarcinoma is more often found in women between the ages of 12 and 30, especially the "clear cell" type which is associate with the patient's mother having used a drug called "Diethyl Stilbesterol" (DES) during pregnancy.