PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Pierluigi Benedetti Panici AU - Natalina Manci AU - Filippo Bellati AU - Violante Di Donato AU - Claudia Marchetti AU - Carmen De Falco AU - Chiara Di Tucci AU - Roberto Angioli TI - Vaginectomy: A Minimally Invasive Treatment for Cervical Cancer Vaginal Recurrence AID - 10.1111/IGC.0b013e3181a80a0a DP - 2009 Nov 01 TA - International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer PG - 1625--1631 VI - 19 IP - 9 4099 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/19/9/1625.short 4100 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/19/9/1625.full SO - Int J Gynecol Cancer2009 Nov 01; 19 AB - Objective: Radiotherapy and/or pelvic exenteration represent the treatment of vaginal recurrence, but the prognosis remains unsatisfactory and with long-term complications. We investigated the possible role of vaginectomy for isolated vaginal relapse (IVR) in cervical cancer (CC).Methods: Patients with vaginal CC recurrence were evaluated for surgical treatment consisting in vaginectomy. Data were prospectively collected and analyzed to identify independent prognostic factors.Results: Twenty-nine patients with IVR from CC were enrolled. Early and late complications were observed in 7 (24%) and 6 (21%) patients, respectively. After a median follow-up of 57.5 months (range, 8-100 months), 16 patients (55%) were disease-free. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 70.5% and 59.4%, respectively.Conclusions: In carefully selected patients, vaginectomy may be considered a therapeutic option for IVR. Older patients with long disease-free interval and small recurrences benefit the most from this bladder-sparing surgical technique.