title: [Primary vaginal cancer in adults. Apropos of 72 cases treated at the Fondation Curie from 1956 to 1968].
abstract: Primary vaginal cancer are infrequent and amount to 2 or 3 per cent of the gynecological cancers. Their diagnosis is difficult, because many other cancers metastasize in the vagina. The primary vaginal cancer arise mostly after climateric. Adjuvant causes would be a total hysterectomy in the past, prolapsus, prolonged use a pessary or a previous irradiation. The squamous-cell carcinomas, by far the most frequent (91%), are mostly situated in the upper third of the vagina on the anterior and posterior walls. Surgery, being difficult and mutilating is rarely indicated. So the treatment is mainly radiotherapic: external irradiation and intracavitary curietherapy. The radiation techniques are a little different according to the site of the lesion in the lower third or not. The upper lesion can be treated like a cervix cancer. The lower ones  are more difficult to handle; for curietherapy, one must use molded apparatus, loaded with Iridium wire, adapted to each special case. The therapeutic results are rather poor:43 per cent for the 5-year cure rate and 36 per cent for the 10-year cure rate: less than for the cervix uteri. The upper lesions have a better prognosis than the lower ones. Results should be improved with an earlier diagnosis, a more accurate radiotherapy and a more precise dosimetry. The non-squamous-cell cancers (adenocarcinomas, sarcomas, mallignant melanomas) are generally rather radio-resistant. They are rare and their prognosis is very poor.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011883:Radium / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000628:therapy; D014625:Vaginal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D011883:Radium
vernacular_title: Les cancers vaginaux primitifs de l'adulte. A propos de 72 cas traités à la Fondation Curie de 1956à 1978.