RISING INCIDENCE OF VULVAR CANCER IN NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND 1974-94 - A POPULATION-BASED STUDY

Incidence trends for vulval cancer between 1974 and 1994 within a geog raphically static population are reported. The age standardized incide nce rate for combined vulval tumor types is increasing (P = 0.014). A similar trend for squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva was observed wh ich may be important, but this did not reach statistical significance. A subgroup analysis of age at diagnosis, tumor stage, smoking history and parity for the two time periods 1974-83 and 1984-94 failed to ide ntify changes which might identify an underlying cause for this rise. Careful scrutiny of pathology records detected significant cancer regi stry under-ascertainment. Further population based studies in other ge ographic areas would be useful to confirm this rise and to examine fur ther trends in squamous cell carcinoma incidence.