Vulval cancer incidence statistics

Cases

New cases of vulval cancer, 2017-2019, UK

 

Proportion of all cases

Percentage vulval cancer is of total cancer cases, 2017-2019, UK

 

Age

Peak rate of vulval cancer cases, 2017-2019, UK

Trend over time

Change in vulval cancer incidence rates since the early 1990s, Females, UK

 

Vulval cancer is not among the 20 most common cancers in females in the UK, accounting for less than 1% of all new cancer cases in females (2017-2019). In females and males combined, vulval cancer is not among the 20 most common cancers in the UK, accounting for less than 1% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019).[1-4]

Vulval cancer incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rate Open a glossary item) for females are similar to the UK average in all the UK constituent countries.

Vulval Cancer (C51), Average Number of New Cases Per Year, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2017-2019

  England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland UK
Female Cases 1,160 125 81 36 1,402
Crude Rate 4.1 4.5 5.1 3.8 4.2
AS Rate 4.1 4.3 4.6 4.0 4.1
AS Rate - 95% LCL 3.9 3.9 4.1 3.2 4.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 4.2 4.7 5.2 4.7 4.2
Persons Cases 1,160 125 81 36 1,402
Crude Rate 2.1 2.3 2.6 1.9 2.1
AS Rate 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.2
AS Rate - 95% LCL 2.1 2.1 2.2 1.8 2.2
AS Rate - 95% UCL 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.3

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate Open a glossary item

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C51.

Last reviewed:

In the UK in 2017-2019, on average each year more than 4 in 10 new cases (42%) were in females aged 75 and over.[1-4]

Age-specific incidence rates rise steadily from around age 25-29 with a peak at the oldest age groups. The highest rates are in the 90+ age group.

Vulval Cancer (C51), Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates per 100,000 Female Population, UK, 2017-2019

For vulval cancer, like most cancer types, incidence increases with age. This largely reflects cell DNA damage accumulating over time. Damage can result from biological processes or from exposure to risk factors. A drop or plateau in incidence in the oldest age groups often indicates reduced diagnostic activity perhaps due to general ill health.

 

See also

Vulval cancer mortality statistics by age

Vulval cancer survival statistics by age

Cancer incidence statistics by age for all cancers

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 2017-2019, ICD-10 C51.

Last reviewed:

Vulval cancer European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item incidence rates for females increased by 18% in the UK between 1993-1995 and 2017-2019.[1-4]

Over the last decade in the UK (between 2007-2009 and 2017-2019), vulval cancer AS incidence rates for females remained stable.

Vulval Cancer (ICD-10 C51), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, Female Population, 1993 to 2019

Vulval cancer incidence rates have varied between age groups in females in the UK since the early 1990s.[1-4] Rates in 0-24s have remained stable, in 25-49s have increased by 67%, in 50-59s have increased by 101%, in 60-69s have increased by 38%, in 70-79s have remained stable and in 80+s have remained stable.

Vulval Cancer (ICD-10 C51), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Female Population, By Age, UK, 1993-2019

For vulval cancer, like most cancer types, incidence trends largely reflect changing prevalence of risk factors and improvements in diagnosis and data recording. Recent incidence trends are influenced by risk factor prevalence in years past, and trends by age group reflect risk factor exposure in birth cohorts.

References

  1. England data were provided by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, on request through the Office for Data Release, January 2023. Similar data can be found here: https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/ 

  2.  Northern Ireland data were provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) on request, October 2021. Similar data can be found here:http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/nicr/. 

  3. Welsh data were published by the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (WCISU), Health Intelligence Division, Public Health Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/services-and-teams/welsh-cancer-intelligence-and-surveillance-unit-wcisu/cancer-reporting-tool-official-statistics/ June 2022. 

  4. Scotland data were provided by the Scottish Cancer Registry, Public Health Scotland (PHS) on request, May 2021. Similar data can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20468

About this data

Data is for UK, 1993-2019, ICD-10 C51.

Last reviewed:

The number of new vulval cancer cases in females on average each year in the UK is projected to rise from around 1,600 cases in 2023-2025 to around 2,000 cases in 2038-2040.[1]

Vulval cancer incidence rates are projected to rise by 5% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040, to 5 cases per 100,000 females on average each year by 2038-2040.[1]

Vulval cancer (C51), Observed and Projected Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, UK, 1993-2040

Download the data table (xlsx)

References

Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, February 2023. Age-period-cohort modelling approach described here, using 2020-based population projections (Office for National Statistics) and observed cancer incidence (1975-2018 for England, Scotland and Wales, 1993-2018 for Northern Ireland).

About this data

Projections are based on incidence data from 1975-2018 (England, Scotland and Wales) and 1993-2018 (Northern Ireland); the above figure presents all UK data from 1993-2018 (observed) and 2019-2040 (projected). Number of new cases and age-standardised rates are presented as annual averages for each 3-year rolling period. ICD-10 codes C51.

Projections are based on observed incidence rates and therefore implicitly include changes in cancer risk factors and diagnosis. Confidence intervals are not calculated for the projected figures. Projections are by their nature uncertain because unexpected events in future could change the trend. It is not sensible to calculate a boundary of uncertainty around these already uncertain point estimates. Changes are described as 'increase' or 'decrease' if there is any difference between the point estimates.

More on projections methodology

Last reviewed:

 Vulval cancer incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rates Open a glossary item) in England in females are 74% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).[1]

It is estimated that there are around 250 more cases of vulval cancer each year in England than there would be if every deprivation quintile had the same age-specific crude incidence rates as the least deprived quintile. 

Vulval Cancer (C51), Estimated Average Number of Excess Cases per Year and European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates per 100,000 Population, by Deprivation Quintile, England, 2013-2017

See also

Data table: Cancer incidence rates and excess cases by cancer type in England

Incidence by deprivation for all cancer types

Deprivation gradient for cancer incidence

Deprivation gradient in vulval cancer mortality

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Scotland

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Wales

Cancer incidence by deprivation for Northern Ireland

References

  1. Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, April 2020. Based on method reported in National Cancer Intelligence Network Cancer by Deprivation in England Incidence, 1996-2010 Mortality, 1997-2011. Using cancer incidence data 2013-2017 (Public Health England) and population data 2013-2017 (Office for National Statistics) by Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2015 income domain quintile, cancer type, sex, and five-year age band.

About this data

Data is for England, 2013-2017, ICD-10 C51.

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ or

Donate Online 

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.