Anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Not every person with one or more of these risk factors will develop vulvar cancer, and it will develop in some people who don't have any known risk factors. Talk with your doctor if you think you may be at risk.
Risk factors for vulvar cancer include:
- older age
- having a high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection
- having vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN)
- having a history of genital warts
Other possible risk factors include:
- having many sexual partners
- having first sexual intercourse at a young age
- having a history of abnormal Pap tests (Pap smears)