Primary small cell carcinoma of the vagina

Abstract

Background: Primary vaginal small cell carcinoma is extremely rare, with a total number reported in English-language journals to date of 23. Most patients die of the disease within 2 years of diagnosis from metastatic disease.

Case: A 69-year-old woman presented with vaginal spotting while on Premarin. She was subsequently diagnosed with Stage I (T1N0M0) small cell carcinoma of the vagina. She underwent concurrent chemoradiation and then brachytherapy for persistent disease. Due to residual disease after the brachytherapy, surgical resection was planned but aborted because of metastatic disease.

Conclusions: Of the three reported cases treated with concurrent chemoradiation, ours is the first case reported with persistent local disease after therapy. Extrapolating from the available clinical trials from lung carcinoma, concurrent chemoradiation as a primary treatment approach should still be considered.