Vulvar Cancer: Women Can Detect It Themselves

Posting Date: 02/16/2001

There?s a relatively rare cancer that women can detect and get early treatment for if they know what they?re looking for.

It?s malignant melanoma of the vulvar area ? the skin around the vagina ? and while it is an unusual cancer, Swedish researchers say it accounts for three to seven percent of all melanomas in women.

In a nationwide 25-year study, the researchers found that women have 2.5 times as many cases of vulvar cancer as they do of other skin cancers, according to a report published in The Lancet.

As with other cancers, early diagnosis can improve survival. A common symptom of the melanoma is a lump or a mass that later bleeds or becomes itchy. Tumors aren?t always obvious, but any pigmented lesion that undergoes a change should be biopsied.

Researchers say the most common sites for the melanoma are the clitoral area and the labia majora. Only about 15 percent of the cancer is found in the hair-bearing areas.

While this disease shows up primarily in older women, 19 of 219 cases in the Swedish study were under age 54.

Surgical excision of the cancer ranges from radical to more moderate approaches. The good news is there is a new drug being developed for vulva cancer that is currently in the final phases of testing and some women may be candidates for the experimental therapy.

The main point here is that women should occasionally check their vulvar area ? as well as other areas of their body - for any symptoms of cancer in order to get early treatment. If you doubt your ability to do this, have your doctor do a checkup for you.

Source: The Lancet, Dec. 11, 1999

Email this page  Printer Friendly Bookmark this page