Investigating racial and ethnic disparities in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective cohort analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database

To the Editor: Vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for 5% of cancers of the female reproductive tract, with incidence and mortality rates continuing to rise. 1 Zhou W.L. Yue Y.Y. Trends in the incidence of vulvar and vaginal cancers with different histology by race, age, and region in the United States (2001-2018). Int J Public Health. 2022; 671605021 Crossref Scopus (7) Google Scholar If diagnosed early, vulvar SCC is highly curable with a survival rate of 90% in the absence of lymph node involvement. 2 Duong T.H.,M.D. Flowers L.C. Vulvo-vaginal cancers: risks, evaluation, prevention and early detection. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am. 2007; 34: 783-802 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar Previous studies have evaluated racial disparities in survival outcomes of White and Black patients 3 Rauh-Hain J.A. Clemmer J. Clark R.M. et al. Racial disparities and changes in clinical characteristics and survival for vulvar cancer over time. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013; 209: 468.e1-468.e10 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (15) Google Scholar ; however, there is a paucity of literature examining such disparities across racial and ethnic cohorts outside these 2 groups. Here, we aimed to assess racial and ethnic disparities in disease-specific survival (DSS) outcomes of patients diagnosed with vulvar SCC in a more diverse, expanded cohort.