Single-center case series reveals topical ruxolitinib improves symptoms without adverse events in vulvar lichen sclerosus, suggesting a potential steroid-sparing therapy.
Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis of the anogenital region with limited therapeutic options. Emerging evidence implicates dysregulation of the Janus kinase (JAK)–signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway in LS pathogenesis, supporting investigation of targeted therapies. We report a series of 6 patients treated with topical ruxolitinib for vulvar LS, applied twice daily. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Clinical Scoring System (CSS) and Patient Global Assessment (PtGA) over a mean follow‐up of 7.5 months. All patients reported early symptomatic improvement in pruritus and burning. In parallel, PtGA scores showed significant improvement ( p < 0.05). No local or systemic adverse events were observed. These findings suggest that topical JAK–STAT inhibition may represent a steroid‐sparing option for achieving symptomatic improvement in LS, particularly in patients with concomitant autoimmune conditions. Larger controlled studies are warranted to confirm these preliminary observations.
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Paganelli et al. (2026) studied this question.
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