Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia and periungual Bowen's disease concordant for mucosal (HPV-34) and epidermodysplasia verruciformis (HPV-21) human papillomavirus types

• Published in: Clinical and experimental dermatology Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 304 - 307
• Main Authors: Ekeowa-Anderson, A. L., Harwood, C. A., Perrett, C. M., Sahota, A., Annan, H., Ran, H., Leigh, I. M., Gibbon, K. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2007; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Bowen's Disease - virology; Dermatology; Dyskeratosis; Female; Fingers - virology; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Medical sciences; Papillomaviridae - isolation & purification; Papillomavirus Infections - virology; Skin Neoplasms - virology; Tumors of the skin and soft tissue. Premalignant lesions; Vulvar Neoplasms - virology; Dyskeratosis; Skin disease; Premalignant lesion; Epidermodysplasia verruciformis Lewandowsky Lutz; Dermatology; Mucosa; Vulva; Papovaviridae; Bowen disease; Genetic disease; Infection; Papillomavirus; Virus; Human papillomavirus; Periungual; Viral disease; Intraepithelial neoplasia
• ISSN: 0307-6938; 1365-2230
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2007.02388.x

Summary Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is associated with genital malignancy and specific cutaneous malignancies. We report a case of an HPV‐associated concurrent vulval intraepithelial neoplasia and periungual Bowen's disease in a young immunocompetent Afro‐Caribbean woman with no known risk factors for either disease. HPV genotyping studies detected multiple α and β papillomaviruses with concordance for HPV‐34 [a high‐risk (HR) mucosal type], and HPV‐21 [an epidermodyslasia verruciformis (EV) type] in both vulval and finger tissue. Although the HR‐mucosal viruses detected are likely to have a pathogenic role in vulval intraepithelial neoplasia, this is the first report of concordance for EV HPV types in both genital and nongenital skin premalignancies. This case, in the context of accumulating epidemiological and experimental data in cutaneous SCC, raises the question of whether EV HPV may contribute to vulval malignancy, and further study is merited.