Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus and Vulvar Cancer: What You Need to Know
Introduction When I (Jaclyn) was diagnosed with vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS), my doctor quickly rattled off some VLS facts to me: it was autoimmune, potentially genetic, and increased my chances of developing vulvar cancer. I won’t lie; this caused a paralyzing fear deep in my bones. Cancer… I was terrified; for some reason, it felt like I walked out of there with a death sentence. Perhaps my strong reaction was in part because my doctor did not contextualize the link between vulvar lichen sclerosus and vulvar cancer. If I had a little more information about the risk and how I could reduce the risk, I might have felt a little safer and not spiraled in fear for months. In today’s post, we want to provide some education about VLS and vulvar cancer–what the connection is, what the risks are, and what things we can do to reduce risk and take…
