Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of radiation therapy on primary vaginal cancer with high-dose-rate brachytherapy alone or in combination with external radiation.
Methods: Fifty one cases with primary vaginal cancer who were treated with high-dose-rate brachytherapy alone or in combination with the external radiation in Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 1989 to 1999 were retrospectively studied, including stage I 10 cases, stage II 13 cases, stage III 23 cases and stage IV 5 cases. WD-HDR18 after-loading equipment was used in the brachytherapy and 6 or 8 MV linear accelerator was used in the external radiation.
Results: The overall 5-year survival rate with WD-HDR18 was 58.8%, with 80.0% for stage I, 76.9% for stage II, 65.2% for stage III, and 0.0% for stage IV. The comparison of treatments with WD-HDR18 and radium therapy showed the 5-year survival rates of the cases of each stage treated with WD-HDR18 were higher.
Conclusion: Treatment results obtained with high-dose-rate brachytherapy are at least similar to traditional radium therapy for primary vaginal cancer.