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III. Cancer of the Vulva Treated by Radiation

London Hospital

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

This is a report of 127 cases of carcinoma of the vulva from 1941–1943 at the Sheffield Radium Centre. The age of incidence is between 40 and 80 years. Only one case treated was less than 40 years of age.

Treatment was by radium X rays and surgery, alone, or with various combinations. More than half of cases were treated in the first instance by radium. Survival rate for five years was 26 per cent., 10 years 11 per cent. Symptom free rate for five years was 16 per cent. and for 10 years, 11 per cent. Survival figures for radium and surgery were similar and were rather in favour of radium up to 10 years.

In the cases that died, 41 per cent. still showed cancer in the vulva and 32 per cent. in the glands, of those treated by radiation only. Those treated by surgery, corresponding figures were 31 per cent. for the vulva and 31 per cent. for the glands.

Recurrences after radium were more common than after surgery, but radium was more successful in dealing with "surgery" recurrences as was surgery in dealing with "radium" recurrences.

Necrosis, when it occurred, seemed more likely to follow radium treatment of the posterior than the anterior half of the vulva. In cases where only radiation treatment was given to the glands, 53 per cent. died with malignant glands present. When surgery treatment was given, 20 per cent. died with glands present. A new technique for radium treatment was mentioned which seemed less likely to cause necrosis.