Biopsy-verified vulvar lichen sclerosus and the risk of non-vulvar cancer: A nationwide cohort study.

Abstract

Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is a chronic inflammatory mucocutaneous disease known to be associated with human papillomavirus-independent vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. Evidence on the association with other types of cancer, however, is sparce. We conducted a large nationwide cohort study examining the incidence of non-vulvar cancers among women with biopsy-verified VLS compared with the general female population. By using the nationwide Pathology Registry, we identified all women in Denmark with a biopsy-verified VLS diagnosis during 1978-2019 (n = 16,921). The cohort was followed up in the Danish Cancer Registry until 2022 for a subsequent non-vulvar cancer diagnosis. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were computed with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) as relative risk estimates of all specific non-vulvar cancer sites. Compared with general female population rates, women with biopsy-verified VLS had decreased rates of several non-vulvar cancers, including HPV-related cancers (combined estimate: SIR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3-0.7), and lung (SIR = 0.6; 95% CI: 0.5-0.7), liver (SIR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9), and thyroid cancer (SIR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3-0.9). The decreased SIRs tended to sustain throughout the follow-up period following the VLS diagnosis. This large nationwide cohort study shows that women with biopsy-verified VLS may have a long-term reduced risk of developing HPV-related (cervical, vaginal, oropharyngeal, and anal) and smoking-associated cancers (lung, liver, and cervical) as well as thyroid cancer. Future studies focusing on the mechanisms behind the decreased cancer risk are needed.