Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Patient with AIDS: A Case Study

Parinaz Ayat¹, Sara Sharif¹, Kevin Hewitt², Arkadij Grigorian², Sarah A. Goldman¹ and Isabel M. McFarlane^1,

¹Department of Internal Medicine, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A-11203

²Department of Radiology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A-11203

Cite this paper

Parinaz Ayat, Sara Sharif, Kevin Hewitt, Arkadij Grigorian, Sarah A. Goldman and Isabel M. McFarlane. Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Patient with AIDS: A Case Study. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2020; 8(12):522-527. doi: 10.12691/AJMCR-8-12-25

Abstract

Vulvar cancer comprises 5% of gynecological cancers with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) being found in 90% of the cases. Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia is human papilloma virus (HPV)-driven and is the precursor lesion in nearly 40% of all cases of vulvar SCC. Pruritus is reported as the most common initial manifestation of vulvar SCC which may be of a long duration with pain, discharge, and bleeding been less frequently reported which contributes to the delayed initial presentation of the disease. So far, there are no recommended screening strategies for vulvar cancer and HPV vaccination may be the only effective way for prevention^. We present a case of advanced vulvar cancer in an immunocompromised host. We will review pertinent topics for the clinicians on HPV infection prevention, clinical course, staging and the need for strong efforts on patient education.

Keywords

vulvar cancer, vulvar squamous cell carcinoma, HIV, AIDS, HPV

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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