FIGO stage >I predicts vulvar cancer recurrence

In patients with vulvar cancer, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage >I is associated with regional and distant recurrences, suggests a study. Factors influencing local recurrence have not been identified.

In this study, the authors retrospectively evaluated data from consecutive patients with vulvar cancer treated between 2002 and 2024 in two Italian centres. They created predictive models for patient outcomes using basic descriptive statistics and multivariable analysis. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyse the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).

Overall, 283 patients diagnosed with vulvar cancer (239 with squamous cell carcinoma) were included in the analysis. The majority of participants had stage I (50.9 percent) and stage III (30.4 percent) disease.

Ninety-one (32.2 percent) recurrences occurred over a median follow-up of 27 months. Of these, 20 percent were local, 6 percent were regional, and 6 percent were distant. The 5-year DFS was 46 percent, while OS was 60 percent.

In multivariate analysis, worse DFS was significantly associated with the presence of positive lymph nodes (hazard ratio [HR], 3.54, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.04‒12.08), age (HR, 1.02, 95 percent CI, 1.00‒1.04), FIGO stage II (HR, 3.12, 95 percent CI, 1.24‒7.87), and FIGO stage IV (HR, 3.85, 95 percent CI, 1.19‒12.43).

Furthermore, positive nodes (HR, 2.64, 95 percent CI, 1.20‒5.80) and tumour diameter >4 cm (HR, 1.89, 95 percent CI, 1.05‒3.42) significantly correlated with OS.

“FIGO stage >I was predictive of regional and distant recurrences, but no factor was found to correlate with local recurrence,” the authors said.

“Positive nodes, age, and FIGO stage >I correlated with DFS, whereas tumour diameter >4 cm and positive nodes influenced OS,” they added.