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Vaginal tumours in childhood: a descriptive analysis from a large paediatric medical centre

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Abstract

Purpose

Malignant tumours of the vagina are very rare in children. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively analyse the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome of vaginal tumours in children treated in a single institution.

Methods

This study retrospectively analysed the clinical data of children diagnosed with vaginal malignant tumours who were admitted to the Beijing Children's Hospital of Capital Medical University from January 2007 to December 2020 and followed these patients to observe their prognoses and outcomes.

Results

During 13 years, a total of 33 children were included in this study, including 13 children with rhabdomyosarcoma and 20 children with endodermal sinus tumours. The average age at diagnosis was 20.4 months. The main clinical manifestations were vaginal bleeding and protruding masses. Of the 13 children with vaginal rhabdomyosarcoma, 12 were treated with multidrug chemotherapy combined with conservative tumour resection, and their tumours completely resolved; only one child underwent vaginectomy and hysterectomy. Twenty children with vaginal endodermal sinus received PEB chemotherapy. Among these patients, the tumour disappeared after chemotherapy in 12 children, and the remaining nodular tumour foci in 8 children were confirmed to be necrotic tissue by pathology.

Conclusion

Our research confirms that chemotherapy combined with conservative surgical treatment is effective for treating children with vaginal malignancies.

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Availability of data and materials

The data sets used in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the efforts of all the authors with respect to the manuscript.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Zhaoyi Meng and Defu Lin contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Beijing Children’s Hospital Affiliated With Capital Medical University, National Center for Children’s Health, No. 56 Nanlishilu Rd, West District, Beijing, China

    Zhaoyi Meng, Defu Lin, Chao Liu, Guanan Wang & Ning Sun

Authors
  1. Zhaoyi Meng
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  2. Defu Lin
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  3. Chao Liu
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  4. Guanan Wang
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  5. Ning Sun
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Contributions

ZM and DL contributed equally to the analysis and interpretation of the data. The study design and the writing of the manuscript were guided by Professor NS. CL and GW provided and collected the clinical data. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ning Sun.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, and the requirement for relevant informed consent was waived. ([2021]-E-214-R).

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Meng, Z., Lin, D., Liu, C. et al. Vaginal tumours in childhood: a descriptive analysis from a large paediatric medical centre. Pediatr Surg Int 38, 927–934 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-022-05085-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-022-05085-3

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