SURGICAL THERAPY OF VULVAR CANCER IN PREGNANCY

Squamous cell cancer of the vulva diagnosed and surgically treated dur ing pregnancy is a rare event. Only a few cases have been described un til the present. We report two additional women with Stage II and III disease. The first patient, who had a 5 x 2-cm ulcerated lesion under the clitoris was treated by radical anterior vulvectomy and bilateral groin dissection when 22 weeks pregnant. She had an uneventful pregnan cy, was delivered by cesarean section, and is free of disease 39 month s after initial surgery. The second patient, who had multifocal lesion s with a maximal depth of 1.9 mm of tumor invasion underwent modified radical vulvectomy with bilateral groin dissection when 17 weeks pregn ant. Because of a grossly positive groin lymph node, she underwent rad iation therapy after cesarean section. She is alive without invasive c ancer 28 months after diagnosis. Early histological diagnosis and earl y treatment are mandatory in the management of suspicious vulvar lesio ns during pregnancy. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.