J. Max Austin

Primary Surgical Therapy of Ovarian Cancer: How Much and When

From July 1975 through December 1985, 328 patients with ovarian malignancies were treated. Of these, 302 had epithelial invasive malignancies and constitute the study group. The impact of the operative procedure, findings, and subsequent treatment is evaluated. Patients who underwent extensive debulking procedures such as bowel resection and peritoneal stripping did not have improved survival compared with those patients who did not undergo these procedures and yet had residual disease remaining (P = 0.7 and P = 0.34). Reoperating patients felt to be unresectable at the time of referral did not increase survival over reoperating patients after an attempt at chemotherapeutic reduction (P = 0.34).

Tumor recurrence and survival in stage Ib cancer of the cervix

CLINICAL RECORDS OF 371 WOMEN WITH CARCINOMA of the cervix, Stage IB, treated in the decade 1969–1979 were reviewed. Cancer recurred in 67 women (18.1%). A group of 171 patients treated by radiation, including 25 who were surgically staged prior to treatment, was compared to 200 patients treated by radical abdominal hysterectomy and pelvic node dissection, including 35 who had postoperative whole pelvis radiation. A multi-factorial analysis included time to recurrence, site of recurrence, treatment for recurrence, and survival after recurrence. Pathology review and clinicopathological correlation included tumor configuration, histologic type, size of tumor in greatest dimension, and rate of node metastases in patients undergoing either radical hysterectomy or surgical staging procedures. Lesion size was found to be the most accurate predictor of disease-free survival; this was true whether the patient was treated by surgery or radiation and was not significantly affected by the tumor histology. Nodal metastases were associated with increasing size of lesions and predicted high recurrence rates. Node metastasis rates were not affected by the histology of the tumor.

Verrucous lesions of the female genitalia. II. Verrucous carcinoma

Verrucous carcinoma is a variant of squamous cell carcinoma that often presents as a large cauliflower-like lesion with locally destructive growth. A high index of suspicion on the part of the clinician and pathologist is needed for an accurate diagnosis since the pathologic findings may be benign on an individual cell basis or may even resemble those of a condyloma. Deep biopsy that includes the base of the lesion is needed for accurate histologic diagnosis, and the pathologist should be aware of the aggressive nature of the lesion. The treatment of choice is surgical, with wide local excision being sufficient in most cases. Radiotherapy often fails to eradicate the lesion and may even cause it to become more anaplastic.

Verrucous lesions of the female genitalia: I. Giant condylomata☆

Small condylomata acuminata are easily diagnosed clinically and are not often difficult to treat. Giant condylomata, however, can pose real problems in diagnosis and treatment. They must be distinguished from verrucous carcinomas or giant condylomata with squamous malignant change. Large biopsy specimens that include the stroma are necessary in order to make the correct diagnosis, since these entities have somewhat similar histologic features. Treatment should be surgical because radiation and podopyhyllum have both proved to be of little benefit. Surgical removal also allows excellent pathologic study to determine the presence of squamous malignant change or verrucous carcinoma.

Hereditary Ovarian Cancer and Other Gynecologic Malignancies

Tremendous progress will be made in the near future through advances in molecular biology and genetic testing. Further insights into genes that contribute to enhanced risk of gynecologic malignancies will be identified. This field, while exciting, is young, and a careful approach is encouraged in recommending interventions to this group of patients at high risk for ovarian cancer and other gynecologic malignancies. We would also encourage participation in well-designed clinical trials so that the true benefit of interventions can be determined. It is hoped through the careful analysis of risks and potential benefits of risk identification and intervention, the management of this group of patients will rapidly improve.

A Matched Comparison of Single and Triple Incision Techniques for the Surgical Treatment of Carcinoma of the Vulva

Thirty-two patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva (SCC) undergoing radical vulvectomy or radical local excision with bilateral superficial groin node dissection using a triple incision technique (TI) were matched for new FIGO stage, lymph node status, size of lesion, and site of lesion with patients with SCC undergoing traditional radical vulvectomy with en bloc bilateral groin (but not pelvic) node dissection using a single incision (SI) technique. Average operative time (134 min: 191 min), blood loss (424 ml: 733 ml), and hospital stay (9.7 days: 17.2 days) were significantly less in the TI group. After SI 6/32 (19%) patients and after TI 1/32 (3%) patients experienced complete breakdown of the groin wounds. There was no significant difference in overall survival (P = 0.56) or disease-free survival (P = 0.53) between the two groups. There was no significant difference in survival between the two groups by lesion size or by FIGO (1989) stage. Disease recurred in six patients after SI compared with seven after TI (P = 0.75). There were no skin bridge recurrences in the TI group. Two patients in each group had isolated vulvar recurrences and all four were successfully treated by local excision. These data indicate that outcome following TI surgery is essentially equal to that of SI in early-stage disease but major morbidity is much reduced.