HPV-Associated Vulvar Cancer Rates by Race and Ethnicity

Vulvar cancers are rare. It is estimated that almost 2,300 new cases of HPV-associated vulvar cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year.* More white women get vulvar cancer than women of other races or ethnicities.

*These numbers are based on a large study that covered 83% of the U.S. population during 1998–2003, and may under-represent the actual number of cancers diagnosed during this time period. Also, this study used cancer registry data to estimate the amount of potentially HPV-associated cancer in the United States by examining cancer in parts of the body and cancer cell types that are more likely to be caused by HPV. Cancer registries do not collect data on the presence or absence of HPV in cancer tissue at the time of diagnosis. In general, HPV is thought to be responsible for about 40% of vulvar cancers.

HPV-associated vulvar cancer rates by race and ethnicity, United States, 1998–2003

The graph above shows age-adjusted incidence rates for vulvar cancer in the United States during 1998–2003. The rates shown are the number of women who were diagnosed with vulvar cancer for every 100,000 women. About 1.8 white women, 1.3 black women, and 0.4 Asian/Pacific Islander women were diagnosed with vulvar cancer per 100,000 women. About 1.3 Hispanic women were diagnosed with vulvar cancer per 100,000 women, compared to 1.8 non-Hispanic women. This graph was adapted from Saraiya M, Watson M, Wu X, King JB, Chen VW, Smith JS, Giuliano AR. Incidence of in situ and invasive vulvar cancer in the US, 1998–2003. Cancer 2008;113(S10):2865–2872.