S-Phase fraction, p53, and HER-2/neu status as predictors of nodal metastasis in early vulvar cancer.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to determine the value of the S-phase fraction, p53, and HER-2/neu status as predictors of inguinal nodal metastasis in early vulvar cancer. METHODS: The charts of 100 consecutive patients with invasive squamous cell cancer of the vulva were reviewed and a cohort of patients with clinical stage I or II disease treated primarily with radical surgery and inguinal node dissection was identified. Within this cohort, all node-positive patients were matched with node-negative controls by depth of invasion. Tumor from the 13 node-positive patients and 26 controls was then analyzed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The median value of the S-phase fraction was higher in tumor from patients with inguinal nodal metastasis (median, 18.2; 25th-75th percentile 13.9-28.3) than in node-negative patients (median, 8.9; 25th-75th percentile 5.4-15.6) (P = 0.01). The presence of the HER-2/neu immunopositivity was also found to be associated with nodal metastasis (OR 4.05, 95% CI 1.0-16.6), but we found no evidence that DNA index or the presence of p53 immunopositivity was associated with nodal metastasis. CONCLUSION: Early vulvar cancer patients with inguinal node metastasis have a significantly higher S-phase fraction and are more likely to have HER-2/neu immunopositivity when compared to those without nodal metastasis.