Dear Doctor: Raising Awareness of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer still represents a global problem for women and people with ovaries.

Vulval Cancer Statistics

In England, as in several other countries worldwide, vulval cancer is one of the rarer cancers. It is the fourth most common type of gynaecological cancer following endometrial, ovarian and cervical cancer. In 2010, there were almost 1,000 new cases and over 300 deaths from vulval cancer nationally. Evidence highlights that trends in incidence, mortality and survival differ by age. This briefing looks at these variations.

Overall Trends

Overall, the incidence of vulval cancer (ICD C51) increased by 18% from 1990-92 to 2007-09 (2.1 to 2.5 per 100,000 female population), while mortality rates decreased by 25% from 1990-92 to 2008-10 (0.9 to 0.6 per 100,000) (Figure 1). Since 1990-92, relative survival improved by around 8%, to 85% in 2007-09 for one-year survival and to 70% in 2003-05 for five-year survival (both P<0.001).

Actions should target increasing symptom awareness to detect pre-cancerous/early stage disease, reducing the need for more aggressive treatment. As localised disease is more amenable to treatment, improvements in the early diagnosis of vulval cancers and pre-cancerous conditions may reduce mortality rates and improve survival, particularly in older women. We anticipate that the HPV vaccine will reduce the incidence of vulval cancer over the coming decades.

Source: http://www.ncin.org.uk/publications/data_briefings/vulval_cancer_trends_and_variations_by_age