RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the trends in vulvar cancer between 1978 and 2007 in Kingston and St Andrew, Jamaica, with respect to age-standardized rates and histologic types. METHODS: All cases of vulvar cancer recorded in the Jamaica Cancer Registry from 1978 to 2007 were extracted and analysed for age distribution and histologic type. RESULTS: There were 78 cases (one person of unknown age) of vulvar cancer recorded over the 30-year period. Sixty per cent of the affected patients were between 50 and 80 years old. The most common histologic type of vulvar malignancy was squamous cell carcinoma (82%). There was a decline in age-standardized incidence rates of both vulvar cancers overall and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma over the 30-year period. CONCLUSION: Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common vulvar malignancy in the Jamaican population, and affects primarily older women. Despite high prevalence rates of high-risk human papillomavirus infection, no increase in the age-standardized incidence of vulvar squamous cell carcinoma was identified.
RESUMO
There is a wide variation in reported incidence, risk factors and presentation of molar pregnancy. This necessitates population-based studies to determine these parameters at the University Hospital of the West Indies, which is a referral centre for these conditions. The incidence of molar pregnancy at the University Hospital of the West Indies was found to be 2.81 per 1,000, which fell in the range of worldwide values. Partial moles made up 61.1% and complete moles 31.0%. The mean age of the patients was 28.49 years old with 85% of patients aged between 20 and 40 years old. The median gestational age by dates was 12 weeks and vaginal bleeding was the most common presenting symptom (77%). A significant number of cases (52.2%) of molar pregnancy were diagnosed by routine histopathology for failed pregnancy and not by pre-evacuation ultrasound. The practice of routine assessment of tissue from failed pregnancy should therefore be encouraged in our population.