Don't mistake vulvar leukoplakia for vulvar cancer

Vulvar leukoplakia can be divided into hyperplastic, lichenified, atrophic and mixed types. In the hyperplastic and mixed types, if the prickle cells are irregularly arranged, the cells are of different sizes, the nuclear staining is deep, the number of mitotic phases increases, but the basement membrane is intact, it is atypical hyperplasia. It can be divided into mild, moderate and severe according to the scope and degree.

Mild: Atypical hyperplasia is limited to the lower 1/3 of the deep epidermis; moderate: involving 1/3 to 2/3; severe: more than 2/3, but not involving the entire layer. If the above-mentioned atypical cells involve the entire layer of the epidermis and the cells lose polarity, it is carcinoma in situ; penetrating the basement membrane is invasive carcinoma. Both can cause secondary canceration on the basis of chronic vulvar malnutrition. It is generally believed that atrophic malnutrition lesions rarely have typical hyperplasia, and secondary canceration is also rare.

Vulvar leukoplakia: Symptoms include itching, whitening, desquamation, roughness, thickening, fissures, ulcers, hardening, adhesion, and atrophy of the surface; biopsy may show hyperkeratosis, thickening and whitening of the epidermis, hyperplasia of the acanthosis layer, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and atrophy of the epidermis.

Vulvar cancer: Symptoms include local ulcers, protrusions, thickening, hard base, and foul-smelling secretions from the ulcer surface; biopsy shows atypical cells involving the entire layer of the epidermis and the cells have lost polarity.

If you suffer from vulvar leukoplakia, you must insist on long-term treatment. If the vulvar skin turns white, whether it itches or not, you should go to the hospital for examination, especially if the skin is thickened, rough, ulcerated, cracked, or hardened, you should be more vigilant and surgical treatment can be performed if necessary.