Cancer of the vulva is a rare cancer. It usually affects women between the ages of 55 and 75, but can occur in younger or older women.

The cause of most vulval cancers is unknown but there are a number of conditions that can affect the vulva which will sometimes lead to cancer after many years. These are:

• VIN (vulval intraepithelial neoplasia) which can occur in the skin of the vulva. VIN is linked to a virus known as human papilloma virus (HPV) or the wart virus. There are different types of wart virus and not all of them are related to VIN. There are three levels of abnormality of VIN: VIN1, VIN2 and VIN3. VIN3 is the when there are the most changes in the cells and, in some women, it can develop into cancer of the vulva if left untreated.

• vulval lichen sclerosus and vulval lichen planus. These are two non-cancerous conditions which cause inflammation of the skin of the vulva and occasionally can lead to the development of a cancer after a number of years.

Also there is evidence that cigarette smoking may increase the risk of developing both VIN and vulval cancer. This may be because smoking depresses the immune system.