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Genital warts
Make it clearer
Genital warts, whose medical name is condylomata acuminata, are the visible part of a sexually transmitted infection with human papillomavirus, abbreviated HPV. Not every type of HPV causes them, only some.
Almost always it is type 6 or 11. The virus enters the basal epithelial cells, the cells of the deep layer of the skin and the mucous membranes, the layer that makes new skin. There it uses its own viral proteins to manipulate the cell's growth cycle, that is, the pace at which it divides. The virus gets into the layer that makes new skin and changes its growth instructions, and the result is a benign tumor: a lump that grows but is not cancer.
Those two types, 6 and 11, account for around 90% of anogenital warts, the ones in the genital and anal area, and they carry a low risk of malignant transformation, meaning turning into cancer.
In brief
Genital warts, or condylomata acuminata, are the clinical manifestation of a sexually transmitted infection with certain types of human papillomavirus.
The virus, almost always type 6 or 11, enters basal epithelial cells and uses its proteins to manipulate the growth cycle until a benign tumor forms.
The virus changes the growth instructions of the layer that makes new skin.
Those two types cause about 90% of anogenital warts and carry a low risk of becoming malignant.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingCondylomata Acuminata (Genital Warts), StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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