During a three-year period, sixty percent of female students in one university were infected with venereal warts, a virus that causes 100 percent of cancers of the cervix, but only one in 200 women with warts will get cervical cancer.

Venereal warts can appear as bumps on the genitals or rectum or they can be invisible. Doctors first dip gauze pads in vinegar, wrap them around the suspected area, cover the gauze with saran wrap and after ten minutes, use a magnifying glass to look for white dots which can be the warts. The patient can treat the warts herself by applying podophyllin solution or Imiquimid cream. However, if the warts persist, the doctor can mark each wart with a special marking pencil and anesthetize each area.

All white dots are not necessarily warts, so doctors often have to remove a piece of the wart and send it to a pathologist for analysis. The doctor then burns a wide area around the warts with a special electrocautery and then injects freshly-mixed gamma interferon into the base of each wart. Another treatment is interferon injections three times a week for eight weeks along with 80 mg per day of the acne drug, Accutane. For women who already have precancerous changes in their cervix, interferon injections and retinoic acid cream applied topically can reverse precancerous and even cancerous changes.

There are more than 62 different types of venereal wart viruses, but only three or four types are very likely to cause the cancer. Of the women who are infected with warts, the vast majority will get rid of them, while the ones who have them persistently are those who are at increased risk for cancer. Blood tests can be used to check persistence. A diet that is high in fruits and vegetables helps to protect women with warts from developing cervical cancer. Those who have the lowest blood levels of folic acid and the antioxidant vitamins are most likely to develop cancer.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com For journal references on this article see report #7363.

Free weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition.