Vaginal Cancer Treatment (PDQ®): Treatment - Health Professional Information [NCI]-Recurrent Vaginal Cancer Recurrence carries a grave prognosis. In a large series, only five of fifty patients with recurrence were salvaged by surgery or radiation therapy. All five of these salvaged patients originally presented with stage I or II disease and had tumor recurrence in the central pelvis.[1] Most recurrences occur in the first 2 years after treatment. In centrally recurrent vaginal cancers, some patients may be candidates for pelvic exenteration or radiation therapy.

No established anticancer drugs can be considered of proven clinical benefit, although patients are often treated with regimens used to treat cervical cancer. (Refer to the PDQ summary on Cervical Cancer Treatment for more information.) If eligible, patients should be offered the option of participation in one of the ongoing clinical trials. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

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General Information About Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumors

EpidemiologyThe age-adjusted incidence of carcinoid tumors worldwide is approximately 2 per 100,000 persons.[1,2] The average age at diagnosis is 61.4 years.[3] Carcinoid tumors represent about 0.5% of all newly diagnosed malignancies.[2,3] AnatomyCarcinoid tumors are rare, slow-growing tumors that originate in cells of the diffuse neuroendocrine system. They occur most frequently in tissues derived from the embryonic gut. Foregut tumors, which account for up to 25% of cases, arise...

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Current Clinical Trials

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent vaginal cancer. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.

General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site.

References:

1. Stock RG, Chen AS, Seski J: A 30-year experience in the management of primary carcinoma of the vagina: analysis of prognostic factors and treatment modalities. Gynecol Oncol 56 (1): 45-52, 1995.

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