[Human papillomaviruses]

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) infect exclusively the basal cells of the skin and of mucosal epithelia adjacent to the skin such as the mouth, the upper respiratory tract, the lower genital tract and the anal canal. HPV does not lead to a viremia. Basically there are three different types of HPV infection: Clinically visible lesions, subclinical HPV infections and latent HPV infections. Distinct HPV types induce morphologically and prognostically different clinical pictures. The most common HPV associated benign tumor of the skin is the common wart. Infections of the urogenitoanal tract with specific HPV-types are recognised as the most frequent sexually transmitted viral infections. So-called "high-risk" HPV-types (HPV16, 18 and others) are regarded by the world health organisation as important risk-factors for the development of genital cancer (mainly cervical cancer), anal cancer and upper respiratory tract cancer in both genders. Antiviral substances with a specific anti-HPV effect are so far unknown. Conventional therapies of benign skin warts and of mucosal warts are mainly nonspecific. They comprise tissue-destroying therapies such as electrocautery, cryotherapy and laser. In addition cytotoxic substances such as podophyllotoxin and systemic therapy with retinoids are in use. Systemically and topically administered immunotherapies represent a new approach for treatment. Both interferons and particularly the recently developed imiquimod, an interferon-alpha and cytokine-inductor lead to better results and are better tolerated then conventional therapies. HPV-specific vaccines have been developed in the last 5 years and will be used in future for prevention and treatment of benign and malignant HPV-associated tumors of the genitoanal tract in both sexes.