Survival of patients with vulvar cancer

ABSTRACT

Background: Vulvar cancer corresponds to 3 to 5 percent of all female reproductive tract malignancies. Therefore it is classifed as a low frequency disease. Aim: To estimate overall and conditional survival one and two years after diagnosing women with vulvar cancer. Material and Methods: Retrospective cohort study. The patient database of an oncological hospital was revised and patients with vulvar cancer diagnosed between 1997 and 2006 were selected. The clinical records of these women were reviewed. Results: Eighty six women aged 32 to 92 years, were identified. Eighty percent had a squamous carcinoma, 46 percent were in stage III, 48 percent received incomplete treatment, 40 percent consulted due to the presence of a vulvar mass and 18 percent had lesions in labia majora or minora. Overall five years survival at 5 years was 41.8 percent. There were statistically significant differences in survival depending on the initial stage of cancer (p = 0.02). Five year conditional survival, one and two years after the diagnosis, was 59 and 79 percent, respectively. Conclusions: Five years overall survival of these group of women with vulvar cancer was 41.8 percent. The figures increased to 59 and 79 percent in patients who had survived one and two years after the diagnosis. The stage of the lesion and the initial survival are survival prognostic factors for vulvar cancer.