Systemic Therapy for Lichen Sclerosus: A Systematic Review

Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic, inflammatory process affecting predominantly anogenital skin, with extragenital involvement in up to 20% of cases. The mainstay of therapy for anogenital LS is topical immunosuppression. However, in treatment-refractory cases, severe, or hypertrophic disease, systemic modalities may be used. Currently, there are no guidelines for systemic therapy in LS.

This study aimed to provide a review of the current literature on use of systemic therapies for LS, including demographic and clinical features of LS, as well as reported outcomes.

A primary literature search was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, and Web of Science, from the year the journal was published until June 2022.

Ultimately, 71 studies consisting of 392 patients were included. Of these, 65% (n = 254) had anogenital disease, 9% (n = 36) had extragenital disease, and 19% (n = 73) had both anogenital and extragenital disease, and in 7% (n = 29) of cases, location was not specified. The most frequent therapies, stratified by total cases, included oral retinoids (n = 227), methotrexate (n = 59), hydroxychloroquine (n = 36), and systemic steroids (prednisone, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, oral triamcinolone, and other systemic steroids) (n = 60). Overall, 76% (n = 194) of anogenital, 94% (n = 34) of extragenital, and 81% (n = 59) of patients with both anogenital and extragenital involvement were reported to have clinical or symptomatic improvement.

Overall, we found many therapies that have been used with reported success for extragenital and genital LS. However, future studies are needed to better define treatment outcomes and directly compare efficacy of different therapies for LS.