Bartholin gland carcinoma

Bartholin gland tumors are rare and management recommendations have been based on limited information. This report summarizes a 30-year clinical experience involving Bartholin gland carcinoma in 36 patients whose five-year survival rate was 84%. FIGO stages of the 36 tumors were stage I, nine; stage II, 15; stage III, ten; and stage IV, two. Cell types were: Squamous, 27 (three nonkeratinizing with areas of a transitional component); adenomatous, six; adenoid cystic, two; and adenosquamous, one. Fourteen of 30 (47%) patients with lymph node dissections had nodal metastases and 11 remain disease-free. Disease recurred in nine patients (six local, two distant, one local and distant) and four were treated successfully. One of 14 (7%) patients receiving radiation and six of 22 (27%) patients not receiving radiation developed local recurrences. Wide excision (often necessitating a radical hemivulvectomy), ipsilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy, and adjunctive irradiation to the vulva and regional lymph nodes produced excellent results. (C) 1986 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.