What is the treatment of melanoma of the vulva?

Traditionally, treatment of vulvar melanoma involves surgical management in the form of a radical vulvectomy with bilateral inguinal–femoral lymph node dissection. However, this disfiguring therapy, which leads to a high rate of morbidity, has not been shown to increase the survival rates or lower the recurrence rate over more conservative management. More conservative surgical treatment includes wide local excision for early stage disease. The use of adjuvant chemotherapy varies according to the institution.