Basal cell carcinoma of the vulva.

Basal cell carcinoma was found in eight of 61 cases of vulvar malignancy occurring over a 20-year period. This incidence of basal cell carcinoma was 13.1%, higher than the expected 2%-5% reported previously in the literature. Symptoms of a mass, usually discharge, pruritus or bleeding, were commonly ignored for long periods of time by the elderly patient. The specific location and size were difficult to ascertain from hospital records. Therapy is always surgical with wide local excision recommended. Local recurrence will be noted in 10%-20%, as vulvar basal cell carcinoma is a multicentric lesion and, therefore, long-term follow-up, as with any malignancy, is mandatory. Adequate identification and reporting may well show that this lesion is more common than has been previously thought.