Vaginal cancer risk

Preventable cases

Vaginal cancer cases are preventable, UK, 2015

 

Caused by infections

Vaginal cancer cases linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, UK

The estimated lifetime risk of being diagnosed with vaginal cancer is 1 in 1600 (less than 1%) for females born in 1961 in the UK.[1]

These figures have been calculated on the assumption that the possibility of having more than one diagnosis of vaginal cancer over the course of a lifetime is very low ('Current Probability' method).[2]

See also

Lifetime risk for all cancers combined and cancers compared

Vaginal cancer incidence statistics

How risk is calculated

Want to generate bespoke preventable cancers stats statements? Download our interactive statement generator.

References

  1. Lifetime risk estimates calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK 2023.
  2. Estève J, Benhamou E, Raymond L. Statistical methods in cancer research. Volume IV. Descriptive epidemiology. IARC Sci Publ. 1994;(128):1-302.

About this data

Data is for UK, past and projected cancer incidence and mortality and all-cause mortality rates for those born in 1961, ICD-10 C15.

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, 2023 (as yet unpublished). Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with cancer for people in the UK born in 1961. Based on method from Esteve et al. 1994 [2], using projected cancer incidence (using data up to 2018) calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK and projected all-cause mortality (using data up to 2020, with adjustment for COVID impact) calculated by Office for National Statistics. Differences from previous analyses are attributable mainly toslowing pace of improvement in life expectancy, and also to slowing/stabilising increases in cancer incidence.

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75% of vaginal cancer cases in the UK are preventable.[1]

Vaginal cancer risk is associated with a number of risk factors.[2,3]

Vaginal Cancer Risk Factors

  Increases risk Decreases risk
'Sufficient' or 'convincing' evidence
  • Diethylstilbestrol (exposure in utero)
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16
  
'Limited' or 'probable' evidence
  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1
  

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classification. World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) classification does not include vaginal cancer because it is not generally recognised to have a relationship to food, nutrition, and physical activity.

See also

Want to generate bespoke preventable cancers stats statements? Download our interactive statement generator.

Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

Learn how attributable risk is calculated

Vulval cancer risk statistics

References

  1. Brown KF, Rumgay H, Dunlop C, et al. The fraction of cancer attributable to known risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the UK overall in 2015. British Journal of Cancer 2018. 
  2. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, Volumes 1 to 122*. Accessed October 2018.
  3. World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research. Continuous Update Project Findings & Reports. Accessed October 2018.
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International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies the role of this risk factor in cancer development.[1] 75% of vaginal cancer cases in the UK are caused by HPV infection.[2]

Vaginal cancer risk is 5 times higher in women with HPV16 antibodies versus those without, a case-control study showed.[3] HPV16 is present in 59% of vaginal cancers, a cross-sectional study showed.[4]

UK portrait version shown here. Country versions, cancers caused by other risk factors, and landscape formats are available for free from our cancer risk publications.

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, Volumes 1 to 122*. Accessed October 2018.
  2. Brown KF, Rumgay H, Dunlop C, et al. The fraction of cancer attributable to known risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the UK overall in 2015. British Journal of Cancer 2018. 
  3. Carter JJ, Madeleine MM, Shera K, et al. Human Papillomavirus 16 and 18 L1 Serology Compared across Anogenital Cancer Sites. Cancer Res 2001;61(5):1934-40.
  4. Alemany L, Saunier M, Tinoco L, et al. Large contribution of human papillomavirus in vaginal neoplastic lesions: a worldwide study in 597 samples. Eur J Cancer 2014;50(16):2846-54.
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International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies the role of this risk factor in cancer development.[1]

People with HIV infection often also have human papillomavirus (HPV), and HIV may facilitate initiation or persistence of HPV infection; HIV-related UK vaginal cancer cases are included in the HPV-attributable proportion above.[2,3]

Vaginal cancer risk is 9 times higher in women with HIV compared with the general population, a meta-analysis has shown.[4]

Some studies show a particularly strong relationship for women under 30 years old.[5,6]

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, Volumes 1 to 122*. Accessed October 2018.
  2. Parkin DM, Boyd L, Walker LC. 16. The fraction of cancer attributable to lifestyle and environmental factors in the UK in 2010. Br J Cancer 2011;105 Suppl 2:S77-81.
  3. Parkin DM. 11. Cancers attributable to infection in the UK in 2010. Br J Cancer 2011;105 Suppl 2:S49-56.
  4. Shiels MS, Cole SR, Kirk GD, Poole C. A meta-analysis of the incidence of non-AIDS cancers in HIV-infected individuals. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2009;52(5):611-22.
  5. Frisch M, Biggar RJ, Goedert JJ. Human Papillomavirus-Associated Cancers in Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92(18):1500-10.
  6. Sitas F, Pacella-Norman R, Carrara H, et al. The spectrum of HIV-1 related cancers in South Africa. Int J Cancer 2000;88(3):489-92.
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International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies the role of this risk factor in cancer development.[1]

Vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma (a rare subtype) risk is higher in women whose mothers took DES during pregnancy, cohort studies have shown.[2,3]

References

  1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, Volumes 1 to 122*. Accessed October 2018.
  2. Troisi R, Hatch EE, Titus-Ernstoff L, et al. Cancer risk in women prenatally exposed to diethylstilbestrol. Int J Cancer 2007;121(2):356-60.
  3. Verloop J, van Leeuwen FE, Helmerhorst TJ, et al. Cancer risk in DES daughters. Cancer Causes Control 2010;21(7):999-1007.
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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.