Cancer of the vulva

Cancer of the vulva is considered a very rare pathology. In the total incidence of malignant neoplasm in the female genitalia, he ranks fourth, hitting from three to eight percent of patients.

Cancer of the vulva refers to the "visual" pathologies. His diagnosis in the early stages largely depends on the responsibility of the patient herself in relation to the disease, her awareness of the neoplasms of such localization.

Despite the "visual" nature of the malignant tumor, the majority of patients enter the disease in stage III. It should be noted that in many cases the appearance of a neoplasm is preceded by diseases and conditions accompanied by a pronounced symptomatology and a clinical picture, which should indicate not only early diagnostics but also secondary prevention.

Modern medicine has direct evidence (molecular biology and serology) of involvement in the development of the pathology of squamous cell carcinoma of a viral infection. With this malignant neoplasm, the herpes virus, as well as human papilloma, is most often detected. Along with this, against the backdrop of such evidence is not always clear the mechanism of the formation of the tumor process, in view of the fact that the carrier itself does not always provoke cancer of the vulva. Thus, along with the obligatory presence of the pathogen, a number of conditions are also noted in which the development of malignant neoplasm acquires a progressive and irreversible character. Most likely, the etiopathogenetic regularity of the formation of the tumor process is formulated taking into account the age-related involution of the mucous membrane and skin (against the background of a perfect deficiency of estradiol and a sharp decrease in steroid receptors). This provokes the development of involuto-atrophic processes, a change in the microbiocenosis of the vulva (the emergence of a pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic microflora). With the course of the disease, dystrophic and inflammatory changes are formed, and proliferative processes are induced. At this stage, the penetration of viruses and the development of dysplasia, progressing in the subsequent in the preinvasive and invasive malignant tumor.

Cancer of the vulva is morphologically represented in most cases in the form of a squamous cell structure without keratinization and with it. The glandular forms of neoplasm are noted in four percent.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the genital organs in women also includes a warty and basal cell type.

As a rule, the lesions of the tumor process are marked in the zone of small and large lips, in the perineum (about sixty percent of all cases of morbidity). Rarely, clitoral cancer is detected (from twenty to thirty percent). This malignant neoplasm is characterized by a rapid spread to nearby tissues and a fairly early metastasis. Patients with clitoral lesions are included in the group of patients with an unfavorable prognosis. Depending on the nature of growth, they classify ulcerative, ulcerative infiltrative and exophytic.

Cancer of the vulva. Symptoms.

The initial stages of neoplasm formation are characterized by itching and burning in the area of the external genitalia. With the course of the disease, morbidity is added, which manifests itself in the process of germination of cancer into the underlying tissues, with localization predominantly in the clitoral zone. The tumor can be presented in the form of a tuberous growth, with the touch of a bleeding, or dense node, a flat ulcer with roll-shaped edges and an uneven bottom. In some cases, condylomas are formed on the external genitalia.