What Is Vaginal Cancer?
For more information, please view the topics in the green box to the right.
To understand what is happening when you have cancer, it helps to understand how your body works normally. Your body consists of tiny building blocks called cells. Normal cells grow and multiply when the body needs them. They also die out when the body does not need them.
Cancer is made up of abnormal cells. They grow whether your body needs them or not. In most cancers, the abnormal cells grow so they form a lump called a tumor.
Vaginal cancer is cancer that forms in your vagina. The vagina, also called the birth canal, is a hollow, tube-like passageway. It’s between the bottom part of your uterus and the outside of your body.
Most vaginal cancers begin in the lining of the vagina. The lining is called the epithelium. These cancers are called vaginal squamous cell carcinomas. This type of vaginal cancer develops over many years. It develops from precancerous changes. The changes are called vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VAIN).
These are other, very rare types of vaginal cancer.
- Adenocarcinomas, which develop in the mucous-secreting cells of the vagina
- Malignant melanomas, which most often affect the lower or outer portion of the vagina
- Sarcomas, which develop deep in the wall of the vagina
- Other cancers, such as lymphoma, which may spread to the vagina