Vulval cancer risk

Preventable cases

Vulval cancer cases are preventable, UK, 2015

 

Caused by infections

Vulval cancer cases caused by infections, UK, 2015

The estimated lifetime risk of being diagnosed with vulval cancer is 1 in 230 (less than 1%) for females born in 1961 in the UK.[1]

These figures take account of the possibility that someone can have more than one diagnosis of vulval cancer in their lifetime ('Adjusted for Multiple Primaries' (AMP) method).[2]

See also

Lifetime risk for all cancers combined and cancers compared

Vulval cancer incidence statistics

How risk is calculated

Want to generate bespoke preventable cancers stats statements? Download our interactive statement generator.

References

  1. Lifetime risk estimates calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK 2023.
  2. Sasieni PD, Shelton J, Ormiston-Smith N, et al. What is the lifetime risk of developing cancer?: The effect of adjusting for multiple primaries  Br J Cancer, 2011.105(3): p.460-5

    About this data

    Data is for UK, past and projected cancer incidence and mortality and all-cause mortality rates for those born in 1961, ICD-10 C00-C14, C30-C32.

    Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK, 2023 (as yet unpublished). Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with cancer for people in the UK born in 1961. Based on method from Ahmad et al. 2015, using projected cancer incidence (using data up to 2018) calculated by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK and projected all-cause mortality (using data up to 2020, with adjustment for COVID impact) calculated by Office for National Statistics. Differences from previous analyses are attributable mainly to slowing pace of improvement in life expectancy, and also to slowing/stabilising increases in cancer incidence.

    Last reviewed:

    69% of vulval cancer cases in the UK are preventable.[1]

    Vulval cancer risk is associated with a number of risk factors.[2,3]

    Vulval Cancer Risk Factors

      Increases risk Decreases risk
    'Sufficient' or 'convincing' evidence
    • Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16
    		  
    'Limited' or 'probable' evidence
    • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1
    • HPV types 18, 33
    		  

    International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classification. World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) classification does not include vulval cancer because it is not generally recognised to have a relationship to food, nutrition, and physical activity.

    See also

    Want to generate bespoke preventable cancers stats statements? Download our interactive statement generator.

    Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

    Learn how attributable risk is calculated

    Vaginal cancer risk statistics

    References

    1. Brown KF, Rumgay H, Dunlop C, et al. The fraction of cancer attributable to known risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the UK overall in 2015. British Journal of Cancer 2018. 
    2. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, Volumes 1 to 122*. Accessed October 2018.
    3. World Cancer Research Fund / American Institute for Cancer Research. Continuous Update Project Findings & Reports. Accessed October 2018.
    Last reviewed:

    International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies the role of this risk factor in cancer development.[1]

    69% of vulval cancer cases in the UK are caused by HPV infection.[2]

    5% of vulval cancer cases in Europe are HPV-positive, a meta-analysis showed.[3] 81% of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) cases in Europe are HPV-positive.[2] HPV type 16 is the most common type in vulval cancer cases worldwide (32%), followed by HPV types 33 (5%) and 18 (4%).[3] Vulval cancer cases are more likely to be HPV-positive in younger women.[3]

    Vulval cancer risk is higher in women with genital warts, versus women without, a cohort study showed.[4] This is probably due to co-infection with high-risk HPV types (genital warts are caused by low-risk HPV types).[4]

    UK portrait version shown here. Country versions, cancers caused by other risk factors, and landscape formats are available for free from our cancer risk publications.

    References

    1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans. Volumes 1 to 122* Accessed October 2018.
    2. Brown KF, Rumgay H, Dunlop C, et al. The fraction of cancer attributable to known risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the UK overall in 2015. British Journal of Cancer 2018. 
    3. De Vuyst H, Clifford GM, Nascimento MC, et al. Prevalence and type distribution of human papillomavirus in carcinoma and intraepithelial neoplasia of the vulva, vagina and anus: a meta-analysis. Int J Cancer 2009;124(7):1626-36.
    4. Blomberg M, Friis S, Munk C, et al. Genital warts and risk of cancer: a Danish study of nearly 50 000 patients with genital warts. J Infect Dis 2012;205(10):1544-53.
    Last reviewed:

    International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies the role of this risk factor in cancer development.[1]

    Vulval/vaginal cancer risk is 6.5 times higher in people with HIV/AIDS compared with the general population, a meta-analysis showed.[2] This is probably due to co-infection with, and reduced capacity to clear, Human papillomavirus (HPV).[2,3]

    Vulval/vaginal cancer risk among people with HIV does not vary by level of immunosuppression, a cohort study showed.[4] Vulval/vaginal cancer risk among people with HIV has increased over time (probably related to changing HPV prevalence), a cohort study showed.[5]

    References

    1. International Agency for Research on Cancer. List of Classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans. Volumes 1 to 122* Accessed October 2018.
    2. Grulich AE, van Leeuwen MT, Falster MO, et al. Incidence of cancers in people with HIV/AIDS compared with immunosuppressed transplant recipients: a meta-analysis. Lancet 2007;370(9581):59-67.
    3. Shiels MS, Pfeiffer RM, Gail MH, et al. Cancer burden in the HIV-infected population in the United States. J Natl Cancer Inst 2011;103(9):753-62.
    4. Chaturvedi AK, Madeleine MM, Biggar RJ, et al. Risk of human papillomavirus-associated cancers among persons with AIDS. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009;101(16):1120-30.
    5. Shiels MS, Pfeiffer RM, Gail MH, et al. Cancer burden in the HIV-infected population in the United States. J Natl Cancer Inst 2011;103(9):753-62.
    Last reviewed:

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    Acknowledgements

    We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.