Vaginal Cancer

Vaginal cancer is a very rare disease. Just under 250 cases�are diagnosed in the UK each year. Out of every 1,000 cancers diagnosed in women, only 1 is vaginal cancer.

There are different types of vaginal cancer because the vagina is made of several different types of body tissue.

Squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma of the vagina are the most common types and most of the information below refers mainly to them.  Other types of vaginal cancer are very rare but there are small amounts of information about these.

Squamous cell carcinoma is by far the most common type of vaginal cancer. More than 8 out of 10 (80%) vaginal cancers are this type. (Verrucous carcinoma is a rare type of squamous cell vaginal cancer that looks like a large wart and is a slow growing tumour that rarely spreads to other parts of the body.)

Adenocarcinoma of the vagina is much rarer than squamous cell vaginal cancer. Around 1 in 10 vaginal cancers (10%) are this type.

For information on other types of vaginal cancer, visit www.cancerhelp.org.uk