Basic Information About Vaginal and Vulvar Cancers

Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control. Cancer is always named for the part of the body where it starts, even if it spreads to other body parts later.

When cancer starts in the vagina, it is called vaginal cancer. The vagina, also called the birth canal, is the hollow, tube-like channel between the bottom of the uterus and the outside of the body.

When cancer forms in the vulva, it is vulvar cancer. The vulva is the outer part of the female genital organs. It has two folds of skin, called the labia. Vulvar cancer most often occurs on the inner edges of the labia.

Vaginal and vulvar cancers are very rare. While all women are at risk for these cancers, very few will get them. In 2005,* vaginal cancer accounted for only 1 to 2 percent of all gynecologic cancers.

Vulvar cancer accounts for approximately 5 percent of all gynecologic cancers. In 2005, 1,027 women in the United States were told that they had vaginal cancer and 3,738 women were told that they had vulvar cancer.†

*Latest year for which statistics are available. †Source: USCS.