Survival for vaginal cancer
Survival depends on different factors. So no one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Doctors usually work out the outlook for a certain disease by looking at large groups of people. Because this cancer is less common, survival is harder to estimate than for other, more common cancers.
Some of the statistics have to be based on a small number of people. Remember, they can't tell you what will happen in your individual case.
Your doctor can give you more information about your own outlook (prognosis).
Survival by stage
There are no UK wide statistics available for vaginal cancer survival by stage.
The statistics below come from America. They come from the National Cancer Institute's SEER programme. They are for people diagnosed with vaginal cancer between 2012 and 2018.
Please be aware that these figures might not be a true picture of survival in the UK. This is due to differences in the American health care systems, data collection and the population.
The American statistics are split into 3 stage groups – localised, regional and distant cancers. In the UK, your doctor might not use these terms. Instead, they might describe your cancer as a number stage (stage 1 to 4). The following descriptions are a guide to help you understand whether your cancer is localised, regional or distant. This isn’t straight forward and will depend on your individual situation. Talk to your specialist if you are unsure which group you are in.
There are 3 groups:
- Localised cancers are only in the vaginal wall.
- Regional cancers might have spread into nearby lymph nodes. Or they have spread through the vaginal wall to nearby structures.
- Distant cancers have spread to other parts of the body, away from the vagina.
Localised
Around 70 out of 100 people (around 70%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Regional
More than 55 out of 100 people (more than 55%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Distant
Around 25 out of 100 people (around 25%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Survival rates for vaginal cancer
American Cancer Society website, accessed March 2024
The American Cancer Society relies on information from the SEER database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
These statistics are for relative survival. Relative survival takes into account that some people will die of causes other than cancer. The statistics are from America. They calculate relative survival using the general survival of the US population. This might not be a true picture of general survival in the UK population.
What affects survival
Your outcome depends on the stage of the cancer when it is diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread. It also depends on which part of the vagina is affected by cancer.
The type of cancer and grade of the cancer cells can also affect your likely survival. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
Your general health and fitness also affect survival because overall, the fitter you are, the better you may be able to cope with your cancer and treatment.
About these statistics
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They watch what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
More statistics
For more in-depth information about survival and other statistics for vaginal cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
