Lanneau et al commented that “despite the prevalence of HPV in younger patients with vulvar dysplasia, the likelihood of progression to vulvar carcinoma appears lower than the likelihood of cervical dysplasia progressing to cervical cancer. …”

Evidence suggests the opposite to be true. McCredie et al have reported the annual progression rate of untreated cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)-3 to invasion to be 1–2% and the cancer risk in women with adequately treated CIN3 to be 0.7% at 30 years. Limited evidence of the outcome in women over 30 years with untreated usual-type vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) suggests a substantial proportion progress to invasion within 8 years, with a mean progression interval of 4 years. Approximately 4% of women treated for usual-type VIN develop vulvar cancer during follow-up, 5–10 times the rate of cervical cancer in women with adequately treated CIN3.

The article by Lanneau et al supports the finding that the increasing incidence of VIN seen in younger women in recent decades is now being reflected in VIN-associated carcinoma of the vulva in younger women.