Advances in etiology of vulvar lichen sclerosus

Vulvar lichen sclerosus is a chronic nonneoplastic skin disease, which can occur in women at any age. The main clinical manifestactions of this disease include pruritus and pain of vulva, atrophy and whitening of skin and mucosa, atrophy and disappearance of labia minora. The risk of vulvar cancer increased significantly in these patients. The etiology is still unclear. Potential pathogenic factors of vulvar lichen sclerosus include autoimmunity, genetic factors, sex hormone influence, infection factors, oxidative stress, and so on. This paper summarizes the advances in etiology of vulvar lichen sclerosus.