The effect of topical corticosteroids on Ki67 and p53 expression in vulval lichen sclerosus

Abstract

Background: Topical corticosteroids have become the treatment of choice for genital lichen sclerosus (LS) and are believed to be required for long-term relief of symptoms. Objectives: To compare vulval LS that had been treated with topical corticosteroids, vulval LS that had not received topical corticosteroids, and histologically normal vulval skin. Methods: We used immunohistochemistry to look for Ki67 expression and abnormal p53 expression. Results: We found a statistically significant difference for p53 overexpression, with increased levels seen when comparing corticosteroid-treated LS with normal genital skin (P = 0.011). Ki67 expression was also significantly higher in the corticosteroid-treated group compared with normal genital skin (P = 0.001), and increased levels were also found in the treated group compared with untreated LS (P = 0.05). Conclusions: Our data suggest that topical corticosteroids have an effect on cell cycle proteins in genital skin and, in particular, genital skin with LS changes.