2022-RA-1549-ESGO Vulvar primary melanoma: Report of Six cases and review of literature

Abstract

Introduction/Background The 2020 WHO classification of gynaecological tumors has introduced as the main criteria for classification of vulvar squamous cell carcinomas (VSCC) their etiological relationship with human papillomavirus(HPV) infection, dividing VSCC into two categories: HPV-associated and HPV-independent VSCC. Additionally, recent evidence suggests that HPV-independent tumors should be further divided according to p53 mutational status. We aimed to evaluate the clinical and prognostic implications of these new criteria. Methodology We retrospectively identified patients treated for VSCC in our hospital from 1985 to 2022 (n=196). Tumors were reviewed and classified in compliance with 2020 WHO criteria, according to p16 immunohistochemistry and HPV testing. HPV-independent tumors were subclassified as p53 wild-type and mutant. The clinical and pathological features of tumors were compared and disease free-survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis.