Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin gland is a rare vulval cancer. Available literature suggests an aggressive nature with protracted clinical symptoms and local recurrence despite adequate surgical excision with… Click to show full abstract
Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin gland is a rare vulval cancer. Available literature suggests an aggressive nature with protracted clinical symptoms and local recurrence despite adequate surgical excision with or without adjuvant radiotherapy. This case demonstrates the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and interstitial brachytherapy with less radical surgery, in the treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin gland. A 63-year-old woman presented in the clinic four months after the removal of vulvar mass with histopathology report showing adenoid cystic carcinoma of the Bartholin gland with positive margins. Clinical examination and imaging showed local disease extension up to the levator ani and abutting anal margin. She was given four cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by ipsilateral hemivulvectomy with inguino-femoral lymphadenectomy followed by 25 cycles of external beam radiation and three cycles of interstitial brachytherapy. The patient has been disease free for more than 30 months. The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in treatment of Bartholin carcinoma along with conser vative surgery and radiotherapy can be a good treatment strategy as it reduces the morbidity associated with radical surgery without recurrence to date.
               
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