'Bowenoid wart': wart with bowenoid histological changes? Report of 9 cases

• Published in: Dermatology (Basel) Vol. 218; no. 2; p. 159
• Main Authors: Corbalan-Velez, R, Ruiz-Macia, J A, Brufau, C, Martinez-Escribano, J, Ara-Martín, M, Carapeto, F J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 2009
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bowen's Disease - pathology; Bowen's Disease - surgery; Bowen's Disease - virology; Face - pathology; Facial Neoplasms - pathology; Facial Neoplasms - surgery; Facial Neoplasms - virology; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Male; Middle Aged; Neck - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - pathology; Skin Neoplasms - surgery; Skin Neoplasms - virology; Treatment Outcome; Warts - pathology; Warts - surgery; Warts - virology
• ISSN: 1421-9832
• DOI: 10.1159/000161121

Cases of lesions that simulate Bowen's disease have been previously described in the literature.
Nine exophytic verruca-like lesions with histological findings of Bowen's disease (BD) are described. All cases had a rapid growth, and were located on the face and neck of elderly patients with chronic solar skin damage. We carried out p16 immunohistochemical staining using the immunoperoxidase technique, which was negative in all cases.
We think that these 9 lesions are only histologically mimicking BD, and could be a subtype of verruca ('bowenoid wart'). These lesions could be provoked by nononcogenic human papillomavirus (HPV), as in other cases previously described. The p16 staining was negative in all cases, in contrast with most BD cases. It would be interesting to study whether positive p16 staining is related to oncogenic HPV, whereas negative p16 staining could be associated with low or nononcogenic HPV; thus, more studies are needed.