A comparison of younger vs older women with vulvar cancer in the United States.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare the prognostic variables and survival of younger (< 50 years) to that of older (> or = 50 years) women with vulvar cancer.


METHODS
Subjects with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva were identified from the limited use Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program 1988-2005. Comparisons between younger and older women were accomplished with chi(2) and t-tests. Survival analysis was accomplished with Kaplan-Meier for univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazards model for multivariate analysis.


RESULTS
A total of 6965 patients met inclusion criteria, of whom 1345 patients (19.3%) were younger and 5620 patients (80.7%) were older. The 5-year survival was 87.5% for younger women and 52.5% for older women (P < .001). After data were controlled for race, stage, grade, and surgical treatment, older patients had a hazard ratio of 3.9 (95% CI, 3.2-4.7) for death.


CONCLUSIONS
A striking survival difference exists between younger and older women with squamous cell vulvar cancer, which supports the view that etiopathogenesis of this disease may vary between age groups.
Kumar
Sanjeev
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. skumar@med.wayne.edu
Shah
Jay P
JP
Bryant
Christopher S
CS
Imudia
Anthony N
AN
Morris
Robert T
RT
Malone
John M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018426:SEER Program / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult