Symptoms of Vaginal Cancer

  Vaginal cancer is a very rare female malignancy, and because of its low resolution and the lack of clinical studies of large numbers of cases, its standard of care has not been established, and experience with its treatment, especially in primary care, is very limited. Vaginal cancer, like vulvar and cervical malignancies, is due in large part to persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) (approximately 78% of vaginal cancers are associated with HPV types 16, 18, and 31). In addition, the vagina is also a common site of metastasis for gynecologic malignancies (cervical cancer, endometrial cancer) and systemic malignancies from other sites (bladder cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer), so when vaginal cancer is detected clinically, it should be determined whether it is a primary cancer site or a metastasis from another cancer before effective individualized treatment is given.  Early stage of vaginal cancer usually does not cause obvious symptoms and signs. As the disease progresses, typical clinical manifestations often appear: irregular vaginal bleeding, especially postmenopausal vaginal bleeding, with different duration and bleeding volume individuals; increased vaginal discharge, where the tumor indicates infection of necrotic tissue, resulting in increased vaginal discharge that is watery, purulent or with blood. In advanced stage, cancer tissue infiltrates surrounding tissues to produce local compression symptoms: frequent urination, urgent urination and hematuria when infiltrating bladder and urethra; difficult defecation, incomplete defecation and blood in stool when infiltrating rectum; or metastasis to the whole body to produce cachexia, weakness, severe anemia and other cachexia symptoms.  In recent years, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has become increasingly popular, and its administration at the right time can significantly reduce the risk of vaginal cancer.