Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the prognostic variables and survival of younger (< 50 years) to that of older (> or = 50 years) women with vulvar cancer.
Study design: Subjects with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva were identified from the limited use Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program 1988-2005. Comparisons between younger and older women were accomplished with chi(2) and t-tests. Survival analysis was accomplished with Kaplan-Meier for univariate analysis and Cox proportional hazards model for multivariate analysis.
Results: A total of 6965 patients met inclusion criteria, of whom 1345 patients (19.3%) were younger and 5620 patients (80.7%) were older. The 5-year survival was 87.5% for younger women and 52.5% for older women (P < .001). After data were controlled for race, stage, grade, and surgical treatment, older patients had a hazard ratio of 3.9 (95% CI, 3.2-4.7) for death.
Conclusion: A striking survival difference exists between younger and older women with squamous cell vulvar cancer, which supports the view that etiopathogenesis of this disease may vary between age groups.