Primary invasive vaginal carcinoma treated with radiotherapy: analysis of prognostic factors

Between 1965 and 1988, 125 patients with primary invasive vaginal carcinoma were treated with radiation therapy at the Center of Oncology in Kraków. Twenty-two superficial stage I patients received radium or cesium intracavitary radiation alone. The remaining 11 patients with stage I disease whose lesions were either large or thick and 77 patients with stages II and III were treated with a combination of external irradiation followed by intracavitary brachytherapy. Fifteen patients with stage IVA received external irradiation only. Five-year NED survival was achieved in 42.4% of patients. In the Cox multivariate analysis three variable were independently related to beneficial survival: grade G1 + G2, stage I + II, and age below 60 years. Of 66 patients who died of vaginal cancer, locoregional failure was found in 51 (77.3%), locoregional and distant in 5 (7.6%), and distant only in 10 (15.1%) patients. Late radiation morbidity occurred in 16 (12.8%) patients.