[Vaginal cancer: primary invasive squamous cell carcinoma in adults]

Retrospective study of 80 cases treated at the Institute Curie from 1969 to 1982. This cancer is rare; it is generally seen in old women, mostly arising in the upper third. The treatment is exclusive radiation therapy in almost all the cases, through four pelvic fields up to a dose of 45/50 Gy. A boost dose is added with a perineal field, or curietherapy. Immediate tolerance is rather good and late severe complications are rare (6%). The 5-year survival rate is 52%. The prognostic factors, according to the Cox model, are: the clinical T stage (5-year survival rate of 66% in T1-T2 stages, and 30% in T3-T4 stages), the patient's age (5-year survival rate of 65% for the patients less than 70 years of age, 40% for the older ones), complete tumor regression 3 months after the end of the treatment (5-year survival rate of 71% for those patients, and only 12 months of median survival for the others who are all dead at 36 months).