title: Early and late vulval cancer recurrences: Are they different?
abstract: Vulval cancers are rare, but after primary treatment, known to recur with a high frequency (30%). Clinico-pathological predictors of recurrence have been established to a great extent. However, there is paucity of literature on predictors of early versus late recurrence. We sought to identify such predictors through a retrospective study of vulval cancer recurrences in a single cancer centre over 11 years. Age of women, depth of invasion/site of primary tumour and presence of background VIN/lichen sclerosus do not appear to affect timing of recurrence. However, vulval cancers that recur after 2 years of primary tumour recognition are more likely to be well-differentiated tumours, have undergone radical surgery and have had a closest disease-free margin >1 cm. Late recurrences are entirely local rather than distant metastases and this translates into a better survival as shown in our study (40 months median survival in the early group versus 112 in the late recurrence group).
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Ninewells Hospital , Dundee , UK .
authors.forename: Kalpana
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ragupathy
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals , Sheffield , UK .
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grandidge
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals , Sheffield , UK .
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strelley
authors.affiliation: c Dundee Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Division of Population Health Sciences , Medical Research Institute, University of Dundee , Dundee , UK , and.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: d Department of Gynaecological Oncology , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals , Sheffield , UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tidy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018459:Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Vulval cancer; gynaecological oncology; recurrence of vulval cancer