Bartholin's gland carcinoma: epidemiology and therapeutic management

Primary carcinoma of the Bartholin's gland is a very rare malignancy of the vulva. Of the utmost importance in the management of these tumors is the management by specialized gynecological oncologist at referral centres. Gynecologists should always consider these unusual neoplasms as a differential diagnosis of potentially benigns lesions of Bartholin's gland. Treatment modality must be tailored to each patient: each histological type of these unusual neoplasms has their natural history and may require a different level of operative aggressiveness to obtain the optimal outcome. Given the rarity of this disease, there have been no prospective randomized trials to evaluate optimal treatment. Therapeutic principles in the management of median vulvar cancer are applicable for Bartholin's gland carcinoma. In this review, we aim to update the current knowledge on the treatment of Bartholin's gland carcinoma.