Survival rates can give you an idea of what percentage of people with the same type and stage of cancer are still alive a certain amount of time (usually 5 years) after they were diagnosed. They can’t tell you how long you will live, but they may help give you a better understanding of how likely it is that your treatment will be successful.
Keep in mind that survival rates are estimates and are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had a specific cancer, but they can’t predict what will happen in any particular person’s case. These statistics can be confusing and may lead you to have more questions. Your doctor is familiar with your situation; ask how these numbers may apply to you.
A relative survival rate compares women with the same type and stage of vaginal cancer to women in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of vaginal cancer is 80%, it means that people who have that cancer are, on average, about 80% as likely as people who don’t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.
The American Cancer Society relies on information from the SEER* database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), to provide survival statistics for different types of cancer.
The SEER database tracks 5-year relative survival rates for vaginal cancer in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by FIGO or AJCC TNM stages (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, etc.). Instead, it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages:
Localized: The cancer is limited to the vaginal wall.
Regional: The cancer has spread through the vaginal wall to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver or bones.
(These numbers are based on women diagnosed with vaginal cancer between 2011 and 2017.)
SEER Stage | 5-Year Relative Survival Rate |
Localized | 66% |
Regional |
54% |
Distant | 24% |
All SEER stages combined | 49% |
*SEER= Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Last Revised: February 28, 2022
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