What warts can lead to cancer? Let's discuss it with a dermatologist

Dermatovenerologist

Khasanova

Alina Rashidovna

9 years experience

Make an appointment

Author of the article: Alina Rashidovna Khasanova, dermatologist, cosmetologist

Warts are pathological formations of viral etiology, which are characterized by the formation of small, round, protruding growths on the skin. There are several types of warts: common, flat, plantar, genital. The pathology is characterized by spread, tendency to recur and rapid growth. If injured, warts bleed, change color and shape, and become painful. Self-medication can lead to the appearance of scars and scars, as well as malignancy.

Causes and risk factors

The formation of warts is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is common in all age groups. This virus affects both the skin and mucous membranes of the oral and nasal cavities, vocal cords, bladder, and anogenital area.

HPV infection occurs through contact with a sick or infected person, as well as animals. Cases of household infection through personal belongings and common objects are possible. When it enters the human body, the virus actively multiplies in the surface layers of the skin.

A frequent phenomenon is autoinoculation, that is, self-infection. For example, the cause of the spread of warts in the periungual area is the habit of biting fingers and gnawing nails, and flat warts on the face appear as a result of skin damage during peeling, shaving and other cosmetic procedures.

HPV enters the human body through microtrauma. People who visit gyms, swimming pools, saunas and steam baths are at greater risk of infection. There is also a high risk for poultry farm workers and people involved in cutting meat - they develop warts on their forearms and hands.

Reasons for appearance

If you have not encountered this problem personally, you may have seen a photo of warts on the legs or on some friend or relative. These are basically small formations on the skin of the foot or between the toes, which are accompanied by pain during physical impact.

One of the most popular reasons for the appearance of warts on the legs is a simple infection. At the moment, there are more than a hundred varieties of this disease.

Since this is a virus, infection usually occurs either through direct contact or through the use of personal hygiene items or shoes. Therefore, you need to be careful when trying on shoes in a store, and not use other people’s towels and washcloths.

Visiting a bathhouse or sauna also carries certain risks. You already know where warts can appear on your legs - the feet. It is enough just to walk on the same flooring in the bathhouse as a carrier of the virus to catch one yourself.

Adding to the problem is the fact that visiting a sauna or steam bath does not require a medical certificate of health. What’s even worse is that under the influence of high air temperature and humidity, the skin becomes softer, which is why the likelihood of infection increases significantly.

The worst thing about becoming infected with such a virus is that you can live for years without knowing that you are a carrier, and only after a while can obvious marks appear on your legs.

Symptoms and signs

The incubation period of the pathological process lasts from 1.5 to 5 months, but even in case of infection there may be no external signs. Clinical signs are determined by the type of wart:

• simple or vulgar. Locations: palms, backs of hands, fingers, rarely – face, mucous membranes. They look like dense, rounded nodules; the affected skin feels uneven and rough to the touch. Most often, the color of the skin does not change, but yellow and pink shades may appear. Simple warts are distinguished by their multiple nature and tendency to merge. A variant of common warts is periungual;
• plantar. They are located on the soles and cause pain while walking. In appearance they are similar to simple warts;
• palmoplantar. They look like dense formations with a thickened stratum corneum. It is necessary to distinguish them from calluses and skin abrasions, as well as from syphilitic plantar papule. The infection can spread due to ill-fitting shoes and excessive sweating;
• flat (youthful). Locations: skin of the hands and face, mucous membranes (head of the penis, cervix, rectum);
• threadlike. Locations on the body: neck, skin of the eyelids, armpits, mammary glands, groin area. They look like soft papules, sometimes pedunculated, which is why they are often injured. Color ranges from flesh to dark shades of brown;
• genital (condylomas). They have a lobed structure and a doughy consistency. In appearance they resemble a rooster's comb or cauliflower. The color is flesh-colored or pink, but when rubbed, genital warts turn bright red. When injured they bleed. They differ in their tendency to form conglomerates. The most typical location is the anogenital area.

Who diagnoses HPV?

A dermatologist treats skin diseases, and you should first make an appointment with him if you find epithelial growths in the form of a wart or polyp on your skin or mucous membrane. A dermatologist will conduct an examination, and if papilloma is suspected, he will prescribe an examination to confirm the diagnosis and determine the type of virus.

To diagnose HPV, cytological examination of polyp tissue is usually sufficient. This is a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) analysis based on identifying the DNA structure of the pathogen. The PCR method is considered the most accurate and objective; it makes it possible to determine not only the type of virus, but also its quantity in the body.

If necessary, the following can also be carried out:

• enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which identifies marker proteins indicating the presence of infection;
• Digene test (this method is used to determine the type of papillomavirus in a smear taken from the cervical mucosa);
• cytological analysis of tissue for the presence of malignant cells.

Diagnosis of warts

The doctor makes a diagnosis based on external signs. Warts are differentiated from:

• warty tuberculosis (it is characterized by a peripheral red-violet corolla and inflammatory infiltration);
• lichen planus (purple-red papules, waxy sheen);
• seborrheic keratosis (occurs in the form of a formation glued to the skin, may be with horny cysts, pigmented);
• senile fibroma (has a smoother surface, red color);
• squamous cell carcinoma (characterized by ulceration, persistence, uneven growth).

Biopsy is not often used to diagnose warts.

Specialists from JSC Medicine (academician Roitberg’s clinic), located in the central district of Moscow, a five-minute walk from the Mayakovskaya metro station, will help you determine the type of formation.

Laser therapy

It's no secret that there are folk remedies for combating warts on the legs, but modern technologies dictate their conditions, offering patients more convenient options.

One of these is laser coagulation. Not only medical institutions, but also cosmetology institutions can offer you such a service.

The procedure is very simple and fast. The patient is given local anesthesia, under which the problematic part of the skin is cut out with a laser within a few minutes. The best thing about this procedure is that it can be applied to almost any part of the body - be it the leg or the face.

Treatment of warts

To treat warts use:

• external irritants (podophyllotoxin, salicylic acid, cantharidin);
• methods of destruction (excision, laser coagulation, cryodestruction, electrocoagulation, curettage).

To prevent the spread of infection, antiviral ointments are prescribed - tebrofen, oxolinic.

Treatment is necessary in the following cases:

• localization affecting the functional state of organs;
• painful warts;
• cosmetically unacceptable warts.

Treatments may be less effective if the immune system is compromised.

In most patients, electrocoagulation and cryodestruction have a good effect. Removing warts with a laser, depending on the type of beam, has the effect of coagulation or evaporation. The formation is removed layer by layer after local anesthesia. The duration of the laser and the depth of penetration are determined by the location and size of the wart. This treatment method leaves almost no scars and the pigmentation of the skin does not change.

Surgical removal of warts is performed for extensive skin lesions. Excision is carried out under local anesthesia, after which intradermal cosmetic sutures are applied. After removing the warts, the resulting material must be sent for histological examination.

Based on the course of the disease, it is possible to combine mechanical methods and medications for the treatment of warts.

Which doctors treat

As a rule, HPV treatment is a long process. It takes up to six months to completely get rid of the infection. Depending on the type of virus and the location of the tumors, in addition to a dermatologist, treatment may require the participation of several specialists.

• Surgeon. Deals with the removal of papillomas located on the torso, arms, legs or face.
• Urologist. Men with growths on the genitals should contact this specialist. If it turns out that HPV has oncogenic characteristics, a consultation with a urological oncologist will be required.
• Gynecologist. He is contacted if growths of epithelial tissue are found on the external female genitalia or the cervix.
• Proctologist. She treats papillomas localized in the anus and perineum.
• Otolaryngologist, dentist, ophthalmologist. They are directly involved in the treatment of HPV if the tumors are located in the mouth, on the tongue or on the eyelids.
• Immunologist. This doctor is referred to if large areas of the skin are affected by the virus, which means that the immune system is clearly unable to cope with the infection.

Myths and dangerous misconceptions in the treatment of warts

If the wart goes away on its own, it will not appear again. The human papillomavirus can cause delayed appearance of warts, and even if the formation has disappeared, this is not a guarantee that it cannot appear again.

After removing warts, scars remain in any case. Modern treatment methods do not leave noticeable scars. Laser treatment and surgical excision leave marks that disappear over time. After cryodestruction there are no scars left.

Warts can be cured permanently with folk remedies. HPV cannot be cured with home remedies. And you shouldn’t even try to simply remove a wart from the skin using home methods - this can add to health problems.

How are papillomas treated?

Complex therapy for HPV includes removal of existing tumors by surgical methods, destruction of the causative agent of the disease and increasing the body's protective abilities.

Surgical methods

Popular methods of surgical treatment of papillomas include:

• Electrocoagulation (electrodestruction). It is considered one of the “delicate” methods for removing pedunculated polyps. The growth tissue is excised with an electric knife, and the damaged vessels are “sealed” due to the thermal effects of the current. Wounds after electrocoagulation heal quickly without forming rough scars. This method is often used in cases where special care is needed - if papillomas are located on the face, eyelids, and in the corners of the eyes.
• Cryodestruction. The procedure for destroying selective areas of tissue with cold is minimally invasive, eliminates the risk of infection, and does not require anesthesia. Cryodestruction is carried out by applying liquid nitrogen to the affected area. The formation of ice crystals in papilloma cells causes irreversible damage.
• Laser removal . The technique is based on ablation (evaporation) of tissue with a light pulse. This is an effective and safe method for removing skin tumors, allowing you to work in the most delicate areas - on the face, lips, tongue, eyelids. Coagulation of small vessels, which occurs during the “burning” process, prevents the development of bleeding. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia.
• Radio wave surgery is a non-contact method of destroying tumors using high-frequency radio waves. The procedure is performed using the Surgitron device. It is bloodless and painless, does not leave scars and eliminates relapses, since radio waves have a sterilizing effect.

Important! Do not try to cut or pick out the growth yourself - such actions can lead to suppuration or malignant degeneration of the tumor, and the virus becomes more active when the papilloma is damaged.

Therapy methods

Therapy for papillomavirus is aimed at inhibiting HPV activity and increasing immunity. The most frequently used antiviral and immunomodulatory drugs in medical practice are Acyclovir, Isoprinosine, Viferon, Condimin, Panavir, Aldora and Bonafton ointments. They cause the death of a significant part of the virus, and reduce the risk of re-growth of papillomas after their removal.

Consultations with a doctor online Taking care of your health is a life priority for everyone.
Communicate with doctors online and receive qualified assistance without leaving your home. Try it Please note! The information on this page is provided for informational purposes only. To prescribe treatment, you must consult a doctor.

What are the most common warts?

Most often (up to 70% of all cases), patients report warts that bother them, and the majority of patients are school-age children. Warts are also found in 20% of students. Plantar warts are more common in adults (34% of cases), as opposed to flat warts, which are again more common in children (4% of all warts).

An experienced dermatologist can easily determine the type of wart during a consultation. However, in rare cases, especially if the wart is injured, it is difficult to diagnose it only by examination, and then the doctor can perform a biopsy of the derivative and histological examination.

Types of warts and specific symptoms:

1. Molluscum contagiosum
   . Localization - on the body or in the genital area. There are depressed areas on the surface. If you press on the wart, a mushy substance may begin to ooze.
2. Nevi
   . May be a congenital problem, raised significantly above the surface of the skin. Characterized by a dark brown color, as well as the presence of hair.
3. Basalioma
   . It has a crust on the surface; if it is removed intentionally or accidentally, bleeding begins.