What is the cause of lichen sclerosus?
The cause of lichen sclerosus is not fully understood and may include genetic, hormonal and infectious components. Lichen sclerosus is believed to relate to an autoimmune process, in which there are antibodies to a component of the skin. This is possibly extracellular matrix protein-1 (ECM-1) as antibodies to this protein have been detected in 75-80% of women with vulval lichen sclerosus. Other autoimmune conditions such as thyroid disease (about 20% of patients), pernicious anaemia, vitiligo, alopecia areata and psoriasis are reported to be more frequent than expected in patients who have lichen sclerosus and in their families.
