UF pathologists develop cancer classification strategy

University of Florida pathologists Edward J. Wilkinson, M.D., and Heather M. Brown, M.D., have developed a new classification strategy for vulvar Paget disease—cancer of the vulvar skin—based on its origin.

Wilkinson presented their research at an October 2002 meeting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Study Group on Genital Tract Neoplasia in London. He was one of two Americans invited to speak at the international meeting of women’s health experts.

The classification is designed to assist clinicians in differentiating between primary and secondary genital Paget disease for treatment purposes. Primary vulvar Paget disease originates in the skin of the external female genitalia and usually is treated with surgical removal of the visible lesion. The secondary form of the disease does not arise in the skin but extends to the genitalia.

Treatment plans for this type normally focus on the cancerous lesion at the primary site with noninvasive methods used to treat the affected genital area.

Their classification strategy was proposed in the May 2002 edition of the journal Human Pathology. Brown, a UF College of Medicine assistant professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, co-authored the paper.

Wilkinson, a professor and vice chairman of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, also spoke about the detection of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia—a precancerous change in the vulvar skin—which, when coupled with early treatment, may prevent the onset of cancer.