Juniper Publishers: Carcinoma-in-Situ of the Vulva in a Developing Community
JUNIPER PUBLISHERS- JOURNAL OF GYNECOLOGY AND WOMEN’S
HEALTH
Journal of Gynecology and Women’s Health-Juniper
Publishers
Authored by Wilson I B Onuigbo*
Abstract
The vulva is a distinct anatomical female organ that
has merited attention for long. From the 1970s, many cases of cancer at
the in-situ stage had been published from mostly American centers with
emphasis on local vulvectomy treatment. Therefore, this paper dwells on 6
cases collected in a Regional Pathology Laboratory patronized by women
of the Igbo ethnic group who are living in a developing community in
Nigeria. This was thanks to the auspicious establishment of a local
histopathological data pool. It is to be noted that there was no follow
up, the analysis being limited to basic clinical data.
Keywords: Vulva; In-situ cancer; Data pool; Epidemiology; Developing communityIntroduction
An important paper was published recently from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center [1].
Its message included partial superficial skinning vulvectomy.
Therefore, this paper dwells on vulvectomy specimens collected from the
Ibo/Igbo ethnic group [2],
who are domiciled in a developing community in South-eastern Nigeria.
Thanks to the establishment of a Regional Pathology Department in its
Capital city, Enugu, the author was able to use its histopathology data
pool as was recommended by a Birmingham (UK) group as being fit for
epidemiological analysis [3].
Investigation
A typical example may be given as well as tabulated data.
Case Report
OC, 30-year-old woman, presented with vulval swelling
of a year’s duration. The growth was slow and not painful. On
examination, there was a firm, non-tender swelling in the left labium
majus. This was completely excised. The 5 x 2 x 1.5 cm polypoid mass was
received personally. Microscopy revealed much thickened epidermis.
Mitotic figures abounded in all its layers. However, transgression of
the basement membrane was not evident. Excision appeared complete and
carcinoma-in-situ was diagnosed.
Results
The ages ranged from 30 to 52 years (average 47
years). One case was provisionally diagnosed as Lichen Sclerosus but the
rest were suspected to be cancerous. Of the centers from which the
specimens were submitted, half was from Enugu and the rest from
Missionary Hospitals (Table 1).
Discussion
The last named hospitals are indicative of the role
of foreigners in health services in a developing community. How do the
derived data compare with worldwide experience? There is the question of
the accuracy of the diagnosis [4].
Needless to say, the author personally made it. Concern about
multiplicity and occult invasion has led authorities to recommend total
vulvectomy in the management of carcinoma in situ of the vulva [5]. In my experience, mostly small pieces scarcely up to 5 cm across were submitted.
A large group has been followed from 1 to 15 years [6] or with relation to results obtained with various treatment methods [7]. In the present group, this was not done.
For more open
access journals in JuniperPublishers please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/
For more articles on Gynecology and Women’s
Health please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/jgwh/
Comments
Post a Comment