Quality of life and associated factors after surgical treatment of vulvar cancer by vulvar field resection (VFR)

PURPOSE: To investigate patient-reported quality of life (QoL) and associated factors in vulvar cancer patients treated surgically by vulvar field resection (VFR) without adjuvant radiation. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated patient-reported QoL as part of the prospective monocentric VFR trial using the 30-item European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality-of-life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) supplemented by a question assessing sexual activity. All patients had been treated by VFR and no participant had received adjuvant radiotherapy. The gynecologic cancer lymphedema questionnaire (GCLQ) was used to determine the presence of lymphedema. Structured telephone interviews were conducted to assess postoperative sequelae and long-term complications. RESULTS: Forty-three VFR patients (median age 63 years) were available for QoL assessment. Thirty-eight (88%) had received inguinal lymph-node dissection in addition to VFR. Mean global QoL (global health status) rating among all patients was 66.1 (± 25.5) on a scale from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating better QoL. Higher GCLQ scores were significantly associated with lower global QoL scores (Spearman's rank correlation ρ =− 0.7, p < 0.0001). The presence of preoperative co-morbidities and postoperative wound-healing complications were also linked to reduced QoL (p < 0.01 for both). In a multivariable regression model, there was a significant interaction between preoperative co-morbidities and wound-healing complications with regard to global QoL (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Overall, VFR patients exhibit good quality of life postoperatively. The presence of lymphedema, wound-healing complications, and preoperative morbidities were associated with reduced QoL. Prospective longitudinal studies have to confirm our findings in the future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00404-020-05584-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.