Multimodality imaging of vulvar cancer: staging, therapeutic response, and complications.

Chitra Viswanathan, Kimberly Kirschner, Mylene Truong, Aparna Balachandran, Catherine Devine, Priya Bhosale

Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1473, Houston, TX 77030, USA. chitra.viswanathan@mdanderson.org

AJR. American journal of roentgenology 2013 Jun

filter terms:

Vulvar carcinoma is a rare malignancy, most commonly seen in elderly women. Survival depends on the lymph node status. Lymph node-negative patients have a 5-year survival of 90%, whereas survival drops to about 50% in patients with positive lymph nodes. The purpose of this article is to familiarize the reader with the revised International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging of vulvar cancer and incorporate it into daily practice when interpreting cross-sectional imaging studies. Although vulvar cancer is diagnosed clinically, cross-sectional imaging plays an important complimentary role in staging of the tumor, assessing extent of disease, and selecting operable versus inoperable candidates to ultimately help in decreasing morbidity and increasing survival in these patients.

Citation

Chitra Viswanathan, Kimberly Kirschner, Mylene Truong, Aparna Balachandran, Catherine Devine, Priya Bhosale. Multimodality imaging of vulvar cancer: staging, therapeutic response, and complications. AJR. American journal of roentgenology. 2013 Jun;200(6):1387-400