Role of radiation therapy in the management of primary carcinoma of the vagina.

A retrospective analysis of 88 patients with microscopically proven primary carcinoma of the vagina is presented. All patients were treated between 1957 and 1975 and have been followed for a minimum of 5 years. The technique of treatment, external, intracavitary and interstitial irradiation has been highly integrated and individualized. Several important features could be drawn from the current data: (1) The necessity for individualized radiation treatment to achieve the success, (2) the necessity to subdivide stage II into IIA and IIB is clearly shown by the 5-year survival data, (3) a relatively low complication rate from the use of high dose combined radiation modalities in higher stage is demonstrated.