Objectives: To analyze the incidence and overall survival rate of patients with vulvar cancer in Poland, based on the reporting data from the National Health Fund.
Material and methods: The incidence of vulvar cancer in Poland in 2008-2016 (9-year follow-up period) by voivodship and the number of patients undergoing combined hospital treatment were analyzed. For the group of patients treated systemically, overall survival (OS) probability was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier estimation method.
Results: In the period 2008-2016 in Poland, the diagnosis of malignant neoplasm of the vulva (C51% group) was made in 29,702 patients. The mean annual prevalence rate per 100,000 inhabitants was 8.3 ± 1.2 for Poland. The largest numbers of patients were reported in Mazowieckie and Slaskie voivodeships and the lowest in Opolskie and Podlaskie voivodeships. The median overall survival of patients treated with the combined method in 2008-2016 in Poland was 64.7 months (95% Cl: 58.0-70.0). One-year survival rate was observed in 77.6% of patients, 2-year in 64.4%, 3-year in 58%, over 5 years - 54.22%.
Conclusions: In the years 2008-2016 in Poland, based on the data reported to the National Health Fund, the incidence of vulvar cancer was 4 times higher than the statistics of the National Cancer Registry, the WHO or the USA, which indicates either substantive or reporting errors. In Poland, 54% of patients treated with the combined therapy survive over 5 years which is a much lower result compared to highly developed countries.
Keywords: Poland; combined therapy; overall survival; retrospective analysis; vulvar cancer.