Unusual HPV Types in Cutaneous Warts in Association with Immunological Deficiency

There are now at least 70 known types of human papillomaviruses (HPV). Historically they have been grouped according to the location of the lesions, thus the terminology mucosal types (including HPV infecting the genital and the respiratory tracts) and cutaneous types (including HPV causing cutaneous warts and epidermodysplasia verruciformis - EDV). The different HPV types present diverse oncogenic potential and data have accumulated to support a role for mucosal HPV in cervical cancer. Genital HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 and 35 represent the high risk viruses associated to malignancy while HPV 6 and 11 have been predominantly found in benign genital lesions. In cutaneous lesions, HPV 1 and 2 are related to common warts while HPV 5 and 8 are associated to EDV. Thus, HPV typing predicts partially the site of the infection, the pathological features and the clinical course of the infection. {P