Integrated external and interstitial radiation therapy for primary carcinoma of the vagina

Twenty-seven patients with the diagnosis of primary carcinoma of the vagina were treated by definitive radiotherapy. Twenty-three patients received a combination of external and interstitial iridium-192 implant irradiation and four patients received only interstitial irradiation. Twenty-one patients had squamous cell carcinoma and six had adenocarcinoma. All patients were staged according to the FIGO classification. More than 70% of patients had relatively advanced local disease and conventional intracavitary irradiation was unsuitable. Local tumor control was observed in 85% (23 of 27 patients), and 56% of the patients remain alive and free of disease for a median follow-up period of 50 months to a maximum follow-up period of 84 months. Fifteen percent of the patients suffered from treatment-related complications.