Basal cell carcinoma of the vulva. A report of four cases.

BACKGROUND

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the skin, with approximately 400,000 new cases yearly in the United States. Basal cell carcinomas account for 2-3% of all vulvar malignancies.

CASES: Four patients presented in the eighth and ninth decades of life (70, 78, 87 and 89 years). Seventy-five percent of patients had a unifocal lesion. Cases 3 or 4 presented with recurrent lesions at 5 and 10 years, respectively. All patients were treated with wide local excision. Surgical margins were free of disease. None of the patients had lymph nodes suspicious for malignancy.

CONCLUSION

Basal cell carcinoma can present as a unifocal or multifocal lesion. The lesions are usually located on the labia majora. Patients are frequently diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma of the vulva in the eighth and ninth decades of life. Treatment consists of wide local excision. Although 50% of these cases recurred, the lesions were reexcised, with wide local resection. No metastatic lesions were identified in any of the patients.