title: Carcinoma of the vulva: a retrospective review of 37 cases at a regional cancer centre in South India.
abstract: A retrospective review of 37 cases of carcinoma of the vulva presenting between 1996 and 2000 has been carried out. Thirty-three cases were managed with curative intent and four cases with advanced loco-regional disease were managed with palliative intent. The surgical treatment consisted of wide excision in one case, radical vulvectomy (RV) in six cases, radical vulvectomy and bilateral groin node dissection (RV+BGND) in 25 cases and radical vulvectomy and unilateral groin node dissection in one case. Nine of these 33 women also received adjuvant chemotherapy preoperatively in the hope of achieving better tumour-free surgical margins. Eight cases had a partial response and one case achieved complete response; the surgical margins were free in all these patients. One case received neoadjuvant radiotherapy to the vulva and pelvis followed by RV+BGND, which revealed no residual tumour. Overall, 26/33 cases had groin/inguinal node dissection and 23 (88.4%) of them had groin wound dehiscence. Thirteen of these 26 patients (50%) had inguinal node metastases (Stage III, four patients; Stage IV, nine patients). All the patients with negative nodes were free of disease while three of four patients with Stage III and two of nine patients with Stage IV with nodal metastases remained free of disease. The only patient with Stage III disease plus inguinal node metastases who recurred had multiple positive nodes with extracapsular spread. It appears that although bilateral involvement of the inguinal lymph nodes carries a worse prognosis, unilateral involvement with or without vaginal involvement carries an excellent prognosis provided multiple nodes are not involved. The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy as compared to neoadjuvant radiotherapy, in locally advanced tumours, needs to be explored further.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecologic Oncology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, Karnataka State, India. ubafna@yahoo.com
authors.forename: U D
authors.initials: UD
authors.lastname: Bafna
authors.forename: U M A
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hazra
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sushma
authors.forename: Nagendra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Babu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008499:Medical Records; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010166:Palliative Care; D012041:Regional Medical Programs; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy