War On Warts

Changing sexual practices have led to a dramatic rise in throat cancer in the United States over the past two decades, and experts say they fear an epidemic of the disease.

The comments were made Wednesday at a news conference held by the American Association for Cancer Research to discuss research into the role of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus ( HPV) in head and neck cancer.

Increasing rates of HPV infection, spread through oral sex, is largely driving the rapid rise in oropharyngeal cancers, which include tumors of the throat, tonsils, and base of the tongue, said Scott Lippman, MD, who chairs the thoracic department at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

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Tags: hpv, oral sex, warts in mouth, warts in throat

In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, gay and bisexual men were found to have a significantly higher risk for developing anal cancer, over thirty-five times greater than the general population. HIV-positive men were estimated to be eighty times more likely to get it. Although anal cancer accounts for less than 5 percent of all digestive and intestinal tract cancers, the rates have increased 160 percent over a thirty- year period. Gay African-American men have the sharpest increase and the lowest survival rates. Interestingly, anal cancer in gay men is as common as cervical cancer was in women before the use of the Pap smear, the test that screens for precancerous lesions on the cervix. Both types of cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which also causes anal and genital warts. HPV is one of the most common STDs in the world. Fortunately, anal cancer is highly preventable and treatable if caught in time.

There are more then one hundred different subtypes of HPV, and some are the source of common warts as seen on the hands and feet. HPV affects approximately 65 percent of HIV-negative gay men, and nearly 95 percent of HIV-positive gay men carry HPV in their anal canals. Most do not even know they have it. Subtypes 6 and 11 cause 90 percent of genital warts, while subtypes 16 and 18 are far more dangerous because of their precancerous potential.

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Tags: anal cancer, Anal Warts, hiv and hpv, hiv and warts, hpv, male pap smear, men who have sex with men

by: Michelle Lipke

Liquid nitrogen is a popular destructive treatment for warts.  It is readily available in both dermatology and primary care offices.   Verucca-Freeze and many similar brands available over the counter are a liquid applied from a spray can, but only freeze to -70C.  Warts may not resolve with the over the counter freezing due to the fact that they do not freeze as fast as the liquid nitrogen available in the clinic setting; as well as the proper application technique may not always be used. The wart virus, known as human papilloma virus (HPV), is not destroyed by the freezing procedure.   Liquid nitrogen freezes at -196C and works by destroying the skin cells which in turn release the wart virus.  They body responds to this process by causing an immune response to resolve the wart.

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Tags: cryo, freezing warts, hpv, liquid nitrogen, LN2, treatment option, verruca freeze

As a parent of a school-age daughter, I haven’t decided what to think about the new cervical cancer vaccine. That’s why I was interested to learn the shot may soon be given to boys primarily to benefit girls.

Merck’s Gardasil vaccine is approved for use in girls and women, ages 9 to 26, to protect them against the human papillomavirus, or H.P.V., which causes cervical cancer. Girls can be vaccinated when they are as young as 9, although it’s recommended for 11- and 12-year-olds, before they are sexually active.

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Tags: condyloma, GW, herd immunity, hpv, vaccine, warts

A common ingredient found in over-the-counter vaginal spermicides may ease the transmission of human papillomavirus or HPV infection, at least in animals, according to a new study.

HPV infection causes genital warts and the majority of cervical cancers.

“Spermicides containing nonoxynol-9 may enhance the ability of the HPV to take hold in the genital tract, at least in animals,” says researchers at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.  The study appears in the July issue of Nature Medicine.  Here is the original paper.

As this study was not in humans, it needs further research.   Nonoxynol-9 is found in lubricants, contraceptive jellies and creams, and other birth control products. In recent years, its use has been found in some studies to boost the risk of transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Tags: HIV, nonoxynol-9, Research, transmission