Human papillomavirus genotype distribution of genital keratotic lesions

Genital keratotic lesions include bowenoid papulosis (BP), which histologically resembles squamous cell carcinoma in situ containing high-risk HPV, condyloma acuminatum (CA) that is a genital wart containing mostly low-risk HPV, and genital seborrheic keratosis (GSK), which is a benign epidermal tumour lacking a clear etiologic relationship with HPV. This study compared HPV genotype distributions among BP, CA and GSK and revealed that BP and GSK were related to high-risk HPV whereas CA was related to low-risk HPV. It is plausible that GSK is a distinct epidermal tumour often related to high-risk HPV rather than merely a senescent form of CA considering the overall discrepancy in the frequency distribution of HPV genotypes along with histopathological differences, and the detection of high-risk HPV in GSK alerts physicians to consider more active treatment and continued follow-ups.