How To Care With Skin Cancer Disease

Yes You Can Get Skin Cancer on Your Vagina Here’s What You Need to Know

Skin cancer can occur anywhere on your body—and that includes your vulva (your external genitalia, including the inner and outer lips and clitoris), along with your vagina. In fact, two of the most common forms of vulvar cancer—vulvar squamous cell cancer and vulvar melanoma—are skin cancers.

But slathering sunscreen on your private parts won’t do anything to prevent vulvar or vagina cancer from occurring. “I’ve treated a number of women who have vulvar melanoma or vaginal melanoma and none of them have been sunbathing nude,” Robert Debernardo, MD, an ob-gyn at the Cleveland Clinic, tells Health.

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That’s because only some melanomas are caused by sun exposure. For these, sun protection—from avoiding rays to applying sunscreen—is a powerful preventative method. But other melanomas are genetic, and can occur nearly anywhere on your body, Larisa J. Geskin, MD, a dermatologist at Columbia University Medical Center, tells Health.


While vulvar and vaginal cancers are rare—just 6% of gynecological cancers occur in this area, according to the CDC—they're also incredibly difficult to detect. Discover the risk factors, and how to spot symptoms early on.

Vulvar cancer has several types
The most common is squamous cell cancer, caused by changes in the skin cells lining the vagina and vulva. It tends to affect postmenopausal women in their 70s and 80s, says Dr. Debernardo, but some forms are related to HPV and occur in younger women. Risk factors include smoking, a weakened immune system, lichen sclerosus (a skin condition), and precancerous conditions.

Melanoma is the second most common form of vulvar cancer. “Melanoma is the kind of skin cancer that we all fear. It starts with melanocytes, which is the pigmented cell,” says Dr. Debernardo. And while doctors see vulvar melanomas in an older age group, they’re also found in younger women as well, he adds.