Vulvar cancer: prognostic factors.

Background: Prognostic factors such as surgery and pathology in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma are studied.

Patients And Methods: 47 patients with vulva squamous cell carcinoma treated at the Gynecology Department of the University of Padua, have been retrospectively studied.

Results: At the univariate relapse-free survival analysis, a significant association was found for histological grade, stage of disease and type of surgery.

Menopause rather than estrogen modifies plasma homocysteine levels.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of transdermal estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) on plasma homocysteine levels in postmenopausal women who underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral oophorectomy.

Methods: In two-phase open longitudinal prospective study we compared 28 premenopausal women and 35 healthy postmenopausal patients to evaluate the effect of transdermal estrogen treatment (TTS 50 twice-weekly) on plasma homocysteine levels after 6 and 12 months of therapy.

Results: The study showed statistically relevant differences (P<0.

[Genital HPV infection, relation between vulvar and cervico-vaginal localization].

The Authors studied 37 women affected by vulvar condylomatosis. Thirty-four presented features of florid or microflorid condylomatosis, three were affected by flat condylomatosis, Papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the cervico-vaginal tract was present in 25 women. No vulvar cellular atypia was found in the 37 cases with HPV lesions, while in 6 cases there were also cervical dysplasia (CIN 1-CIN 2).

Pelvic and mammary Burkitt-like lymphoma with simultaneous development of leukemia.

The authors report the case of a young nun who came to their attention because of the simultaneous development of mammary and pelvic lymphoblastic lymphoma and acute leukemia showing aspects typical of nonendemic Burkitt's lymphoma. The rapid tumoral growth and the equally rapid spontaneous cell lysis led to severe renal insufficiency and metabolic acidosis which were ultimately the cause of death. Given the rareness of the clinical situation and the diagnostic problems involved, the authors examined the literature dealing with this subject.

Sjögren's syndrome and vulvar cancer.

In the vulvar pathology surgery unit we have come across 3 patients with Sjögren's syndrome. Two of them also now show the presence of vulvar carcinoma, and one of them shows the presence of vulvar dystrophy with dysplasia. This has induced us to consider the possible connections between the 2 pathologies.