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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

phorbol esters, cotton tail rabbit, papillomas, warts, HPV

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Papillomas are virus-induced benign tumors or lesions of the skin and mucous membranes, more commonly known as warts. Most everyone has personally experienced a papilloma virus infection at some point in his or her life. We normally do not think of warts as a health concern because they do not affect our general health. Although this is true for most papillomas, it is not the case with many types of genital warts. It has been well documented that genital warts caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) types such as 16, 18 and 31 are directly linked to malignant cancers (3, 4, 6). These cancers include cervical carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the penis, vaginal neoplasia, vulval neoplasia, and anal neoplasia (3, 4). Among these malignant genital cancers, cervical carcinoma most strongly correlates with HPV infection (1, 5). Studies have shown that the incidence of genital warts is on the rise, making the cancer they cause more of a health concern (2). Furthermore, a connection between some non-genital cancers and HPV infection has been suggested. These non-genital malignant cancers include oral carcinomas, tongue carcinomas, nasal carcinomas, and tonsillar carcinomas (4). Current methods for treating HPV infections are semi-successful at best and include chemical treatments (with acids or podophyllin), and surgical treatments such as lasers, cryotherapy, and electro-surgical loop excision (4). There is also a high recurrence rate of lesion formation after conventional surgical or chemical treatments (2, 4). Clearly, better therapies are need.

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