EPITHELIOID SARCOMA OF THE BARTHOLINS-GLAND PRIMARILY DIAGNOSED AS VULVAR CARCINOMA

A case of vulvar epithelioid sarcoma (VES) in a 49-year-old female is described. The disease originated from Bartholin's gland and was origi nally diagnosed as vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. The patient was tre ated by radical vulvectomy and bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy. Mul tidrug chemotherapy using doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and dacarbazin was started, but had to be abandoned because of cardiac toxicity. Despite intensive treatment, the patient developed pulmonar y metastatic disease and died after 8 months. The course of epithelioi d sarcoma in this site seems to be more aggressive than in typical ext remity locations and was consistent with other cases described in the literature. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.