Survival and prognostic factors in primary vaginal cancer: an analysis of 2004-2014 SEER data

Primary vaginal cancer (PVC) is a rare gynecological malignant tumor and we know little about its survival and prognostic factors. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential survival and prognostic factors in women with PVC.

We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program to identify 1,781 women who had been diagnosed with PVC between 2004 and 2014. Univariate and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate cases survival and prognostic factors. A stratified analysis was further performed to analyze the prognostic factors in each stage.

There were 20.0% of patients aged ≥80 years and most women were married, 42.1%, and then widowed, 25.2%. The histology types include squamous (74.5%), adenocarcinoma (16.7%), melanoma (3.3%) and sarcoma (1.5%). Five-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were overall: 57.8%, Stage I: 76.4%, Stage II: 61.9%, Stage III: 53.3% and Stage IV: 22.5%. Univariate analysis showed that age, marital status, race, pathological grading, histology, TNM stage, tumor size, surgery and radiation were related to prognosis. The 5-year CSS of married women is 64.4%, while those of divorced/separated and widowed are 56.6% and 44.1%, respectively. Multivariate analysis indicated that age, histology, TNM stage, tumor size, surgery and radiation were independent prognostic factors. The elderly (≥80) cases and those with melanoma were correlated to worse prognosis at any stage of PVC. As tumor stage progressed, both of the ≥80 years old patients and the melanoma cases showed a decline tendency of mortality risk.

PVC is a rare gynecological malignant tumor and more likely to occur among older women. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most frequently observed histological type, while melanoma is extremely rare. Age, histology, TNM stage, tumor size, surgery and radiation are independent prognostic factors. Although marital status does not affect survival rates, married women are likely to live longer than widowed and divorced/separated cases. Age ≥80 years seems to be an important cut point in the survival of vaginal cancer. Older age (≥80 years) and melanoma have greater influences on mortality risk in early-stage disease.