Purpose: The objective of our study was to demonstrate differences in relapse rates, total survival times, and complication rates between inguinofemoral radiation and its absence in cases of invasive vulvar carcinoma without lymph node involvement (FIGO Stages T1, N0-1).
Methods and materials: From 1974 to 1990, 135 patients with invasive vulvar carcinoma in Stage T1 without clinical evidence of inguinal lymph node involvement underwent simple vulvectomy performed by hot-knife resection without lymphadenectomy. Although 65 patients (Group 1) received postoperative inguinofemoral radiation therapy, 70 patients (Group 2) did not, and none received local vulva irradiation.
Results: The 5-year survival rates were 93.7% in Group 1 and 91.4% in Group 2 (p = NS). Although clitoris involvement was significantly more prevalent in the irradiation group (p = 0.04), inguinal relapse was found less frequently in Group 1 (4.6% or 3 out of 65 patients) than in group 2 (10% or 7 out of 70 patients) (p = 0.32). The complication rates were, 7.7% in Group 1 and 2.9% in Group 2, 2.7% for vaginal stenosis (two patients in each group), 1.5% for inguinal pain (one patient in Group 1), 1.5% for rectovaginal fistula (one patient in Group 1), 1.5% for vulvar infection (one patient in Group 1).
Conclusion: No statistically significant differences in the relapse rates and survival times were found. Risk factors were equally distributed in both study groups except for clitoris involvement. The 5-year survival rates in both groups were similar to those reported in the literature for radical vulvectomy and inguinal lymph-node dissection (83-96%). Morbidity in our study was low. Although our data showed similar results in both groups, we are not recommending at this time to omit groin radiation in general, but it may be justified in low-risk cases.