title: Invasive squamous cell carcinoma of vulva: prognostic significance of clinicopathologic parameters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prognostic significance of several clinicopathologic parameters in patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied 43 patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva treated with radical vulvectomy at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Zagreb University School of Medicine, Croatia, in the period from 1978-1996. At the time of analysis, follow-up information was obtained for all patients, 18 (41.9%) of whom have died and 25 (58.1%) who were alive at the time of the last contact. The mean follow-up time of surviving patients was 121 months (range, 6-216 months). Cox proportional hazard analysis was performed to examine the prognostic significance of age, menstrual status, clinical stage, diameter and localization of the tumor, histological grade, nuclear grade, depth of tumor invasion, presence of vascular space invasion, tumor growth pattern, presence of lymph node metastasis, DNA ploidy, proliferative activity, and mode of therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall 5-year survival for this group of patients was 62.3%. The results of univariate statistical analysis confirmed that statistically significant prognostic parameters included the age of patients (P=0.038), clinical stage (P=0.001), nuclear grade (P=0.002), the depth of tumor invasion (P<0.001), and presence of lymph node metastasis (P=0.001). On the other hand, the results of multivariate statistical analysis showed that only the depth of tumor invasion (P<0.001) can be considered independent, statistically significant prognostic parameter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that the depth of tumor invasion represents the most important prognostic parameter in the group of patients with invasive squamous vulvar carcinoma. Clinical significance of DNA ploidy and proliferative activity was not found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Zagreb University Hospital Center, Kispaticeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. marin.nola@zg.htnet.hr
authors.forename: Marin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nola
authors.forename: Anto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blazanovic
authors.forename: Snjezana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dotlic
authors.forename: Anamarija
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morovic
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tomicic
authors.forename: Stanko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jukic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery