We analysed the recurrences of vulvar carcinoma diagnosed at the Gynecological University Hospital of Halle/S. between 1971 and 1990. 37 cases were evaluated. 75.7% of all patients had a local recurrence of the vulvar region; no distant site of recurrent tumour outside the pelvis was described. Only 48.6% of the recurrences occurred within a period of two years after primary therapy. The five year survival after diagnosis of recurrent disease was 56%. The influence of potential prognostic factors on survival was evaluated by a multivariate analysis according to the Cox model. Only the localisation of recurrence represented a statistically significant prognostic factor. Patients with a local recurrent carcinoma had a significant survival advantage as compared to those cases with inguinal or pelvic node tumour (p = 0.0021).