Lunch Hour Lecture: Cancer of The Vulva

About the lecture: Vulval cancer is rare and little known about. It mainly affects older women, and a large proportion experience a delayed diagnosis due to being unaware of the symptoms and therefore under-reporting to health professionals. There is often a taboo surrounding discussions about the female genitalia, particularly in older women. This lecture will focus firstly on educating the audience on the anatomy of the vulva, and then looking out for worrying symptoms. We will then explore the treatments available for cancer of the vulva and lastly discuss the preventative measures, which includes updated research around the use of HPV vaccination in preventative and therapeutic settings

Dr Stacey Bryan

An Obstetrics and Gynaecology Registrar who is currently working as a Research Fellow at UCLH undertaking an MD at the University of London. Dr Bryan graduated from St George’s University of London having studied Biomedical Science and then going on to complete her medical degree. She completed her foundation training in London and her specialty training in the East of England. She was granted membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2015. She is currently working on a project at the Institute for Women’s Health, assessing the clinical effectiveness of detection of HPV DNA in the blood of patients with high grade pre-invasive cervical lesions and early stage cervical cancers. The aim being to use this as a triage tool for the detection of early cancers in those women referred with abnormal smears or cervical symptoms. She works closely with the Gynaecology Oncology team and wishes to subspecialise in this field.