Stage I squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva

Eighty-six patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva stage I were followed for 2 to 20 years after surgical treatment varying from local excision to radical vulvectomy with inguinal lymph node dissection. The results are presented and the prognosis discussed in relation to the radicality of the surgical intervention, the degree of tumour differentiation, the morphologic properties of tumour cell population, and the tumour host relationship. The most important prognostic factor seemed to be the radicality of the surgical intervention. To reduce patient morbidity in radical surgery while still achieving a comparable survival rate an operative approach with less than radical vulvectomy, inguinal dissections or pelvic lymphadenectomy, or both, is proposed for selected patients.