Vulvar cancer in Tunisia: Epidemiological and clinicopathological features multicentric study

Publication date: Available online 8 March 2017
Source:Journal of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute
Author(s): Mehdi Kehila, Souad Harabi, Raoudha Mhiri, Omar Touhami, Hassine Saber Abouda, Abdeljalil Khlifi, Mohamed Hsairi, Dalenda Chelli, Mohamed Derbel, Sahbi Kebaili, Nadia Boujelbane, Kais Chaabene, Mohamed Badis Chanoufi
ObjectiveTo describe for the first time the epidemiologic and clinico-pathologic characteristics of vulvar cancer in Tunisia.DesignTwo parts are distinguished in this study:Part1: Multicentric retrospective study about the characteristics of all cancer cases diagnosed during a 17-years period (January 1998–December 2014) in three departments of Gynecology and Obstetrics: one in south Tunisia and two in the capital.Part 2: To determine the Incidence trend of invasive vulvar cancer in North Tunisia 1994–2009, on the basis of North Cancer Registry of Tunisia.ResultsA total of 76 cases of vulvar cancer were recorded. The median age at diagnosis was 65.4years and 86.9% of patients were more than 55years old. The symptomatology was dominated by vulvar pruritus in 48.7%. The average size of the tumor was 3.96cm. Stage III was the most frequent (53.7%) followed by stage II (28.3%). Only 10.4% of tumors were at stage I. The most common histologic type of vulvar malignancy was squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (94.7%).Standardized incidence varied from 1.2/100 000 (1994) to 0.5/100 000 (2009). There was significant decrease of Standardized incidence (APC of −8.8% per year, 95% CI: −5.5%, −9.0%–p<0.001).ConclusionVulvar cancer in Tunisia is a rare disease, occurs mostly in elderly women, and is diagnosed at advanced stages. Our findings emphasize that a greater effort should be made to facilitate early diagnosis, as treatment in earlier stages is less extensive and potentially curative.



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