Comparison of outcome after sentinel lymph node biopsy or inguinal lymph node dissection in patients with nodal negative squamous vulvar cancer

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) can reduce postoperative morbidity in women with vulvar cancer but data on long-term outcome of SLNB compared to inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND) is rare. Recurrence rates, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) from pT1/T2 pN0 squamous vulvar cancer from 1992 2011 were retrospectively compared between patients with SLNB (n=56) or ILND (n=56). PT2 tumors (59% vs. 11%; p<0.001) and complete vulvectomy (39% vs. 4%; p < 0.001) occured more often in the ILND than the SLNB group with no difference in lymph node recurrence rate. Multivariate survival analysis considering the year of primary diagnosis, tumor stage and surgery revealed no significant effect of treatment on DFS (p=0.062) or OS (p=0.924). SLNB seems to be a safe treatment for women with pT1/T2 nodal-negative vulvar cancer with no difference in DFS or OS compared to ILND. Those results confirm the results of the GROINSS-V Study and other literature with the longest follow-up data reported within a real-life collective.