VENEREAL WARTS.
Report #7257
A study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that women whose husbands have other sexual partners or visit prostitutes have 5 to 11 times greater chance of developing cervical cancer.
The cervix is the opening to the uterus located in the back of the vagina. Cancer of the cervix is virtually always caused by the human wart virus, but only a small percentage of women with venereal warts go on to develop cancer of the cervix. Men pick up the virus from sexual contacts and bring them back to infect their wives. Women can pick up the virus themselves from any infected partner. Condoms may not prevent venereal warts as the virus can travel around them in secretions. You don't need to be sexually active to get venereal warts as they can be spread by rubbing a wart on the finger against the genitals. You can tell you have venereal warts when you see small bumps with a cauliflower like top in the genital area, penis or vagina, but most of the time, you won't even know that you have them because they can be invisible. For some women, the only sign of infection can be pain on intercourse or a sensitive area near the opening of the vagina. All visible warts should be treated by your doctor.
Doctors remove visible warts from a man's penis or a woman's vagina by burning a wide area around the warts and then injecting interferon into the raw area. The wart virus has been found almost an inch beyond visible warts in apparently normal skin. Women who have a raw vagina caused by biopsy-proven warts, are usually treated by the patient injecting interferon herself into the area three times a week for several weeks. Doctors can get rid of warts by using a gauze pad to detect the warts, marking the warts, then burning a 1 cm margin around the warts with an electrocautery and then inject interferon directly into the area where the wart was. (2,3)
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News
1) Journal of the National Cancer Institute August 7, 1996. 2) J Bornstein, B Pascal, D Zarfati, N Goldshmid, H Abramovici. Recombinant human
interferon-beta for condylomata acuminata: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
study of intralesional therapy. International Journal of STD & AIDS 8: 10 (OCT
1997):614-621. 3) W Dinsmore, J Jordan, C Omahony, JRW Harris, A Mcmillan, KW Radcliffe, P Engrand, BW
Jackson, AR Galazka, AK Abdulahad, JM Illingworth. Recombinant human interferon-beta in
the treatment of condylomata acuminata. International Journal of STD & AIDS 8: 10 (OCT
1997):622-628. Up to 6 lesions were heated in each patient, and injections were made 3
times per week for a total of 9 injections.
Checked 8/9/05; see report #7745.
Health Reports from The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show and DrMirkin.com