Related Experiment Videos
[Risk factors for groin lymph node involvement in patients with vulvar cancer]
Objectives:
Morbidity of vulvar cancer surgery is predominantly related to groin lymph node dissection.
Design:
The aim of the study was to determine factors influencing the probability of groin lymph node metastases and to select a subgroup of patients in whom the risk of nodal involvement is low and nodal dissection can be omitted.
Material And Methods:
A retrospective analysis was performed on the group of 123 patients who had undergone full inguino-femoral lymph node dissection as a part of their primary vulvar cancer treatment.
Results:
The risk of involvement of groin nodes was related to the clinical assessment of the stage of disease according to 1970 FIGO classification (p < 0.001), depth of stromal invasion (p = 0.004), primary tumour diameter (p = 0.009) and to the presence of pain in the vulva (p = 0.028). In multivariate analysis the probability of groin node infiltration was related to the diameter of primary tumour (p = 0.008) and depth of stromal invasion (p = 0.013).
Conclusion:
The analysis allowed for division of vulvar cancer patients into subgroups of similar risk of lymph node involvement.