TREATMENT METHODS FOR HPV-INDUCED WARTS: INTEGRATING MEDICAL THERAPIES, DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES, AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS - A NARRATIVE REVIEW
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31435/ijitss.2(50).2026.5697Keywords:
Human Papillomavirus, Cutaneous Warts, Teledermatology, Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence, Public HealthAbstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced warts are common dermatological conditions that impose a persistent clinical, psychosocial, and public-health burden despite their benign nature. This review aimed to synthesize current evidence on pharmacological and procedural treatments for HPV-induced warts while examining the growing role of digital health technologies and broader public-health considerations. A structured narrative review with systematic elements was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, focusing primarily on English-language studies published between 2010 and March 2026. Evidence from clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, guidelines, and selected high-quality observational studies was qualitatively synthesized. The findings indicate that conventional therapies, particularly salicylic acid and cryotherapy, remain central to management but are limited by variable efficacy, recurrence, and adherence challenges. Emerging immunotherapeutic approaches and selected procedural modalities, including laser therapy and photodynamic therapy, offer promise for resistant lesions. In parallel, teledermatology, mobile health applications, and artificial intelligence-based image analysis are expanding opportunities for early assessment, follow-up, and patient engagement. The review concludes that optimal management of HPV-induced warts requires a multidisciplinary strategy combining evidence-based treatment, technological innovation, and public-health awareness to improve access, adherence, equity, and patient well-being.
References
Braveman, P., & Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: It’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Reports, 129(Suppl. 2), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291S206
Bruggink, S. C., Gussekloo, J., de Koning, M. N. C., Egberts, P. F., ter Schegget, J., Feltkamp, M. C. W., Bavinck, J. N. B., & Assendelft, W. J. J. (2010). Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen versus topical salicylic acid application for cutaneous warts in primary care: Randomized controlled trial. CMAJ, 182(15), 1624–1630. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.092194
Bruni, L., Albero, G., Serrano, B., Mena, M., Collado, J. J., Gómez, D., Muñoz, J., Bosch, F. X., & de Sanjosé, S. (2019). Global epidemiology of human papillomavirus infection. The Lancet Global Health, 7(5), e596–e603. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30082-0
Campolmi, P., Quintarelli, L., Fusco, I., Ronconi, L., Troiano, M., Cannarozzo, G., & Lotti, T. (2023). Clinical evidence of 595 nm pulse dye laser treatment for viral warts on hands and feet. Skin Research and Technology, 29(9), e13460. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.13460
Cockayne, S., Hewitt, C., Hicks, K., Jayakody, S., Kang’ombe, A. R., Stamuli, E., Turner, D., Thomas, K., & Lamb, S. E. (2011). Cryotherapy versus salicylic acid for the treatment of plantar warts (verrucae): A randomised controlled trial. BMJ, 342, d3271. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d3271
Esteva, A., Kuprel, B., Novoa, R. A., Ko, J., Swetter, S. M., Blau, H. M., & Thrun, S. (2017). Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks. Nature, 542(7639), 115–118. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21056
Free, C., Phillips, G., Galli, L., Watson, L., Felix, L., Edwards, P., Patel, V., & Haines, A. (2013). The effectiveness of mobile-health technologies to improve health care service delivery processes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 10(1), e1001362. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001363
Hanna, E., Abadi, R., & Abbas, O. (2016). Imiquimod in dermatology: An overview. International Journal of Dermatology, 55(8), 831–844. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.13235
Hekmatjah, J., Farshchian, M., Grant-Kels, J. M., & Mehregan, D. (2021). The status of treatment for plantar warts in 2021: No definitive advancements in decades for a common dermatology disease. Clinics in Dermatology, 39(4), 688–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clindermatol.2021.05.024
Iranmanesh, B., Khalili, M., Zartab, H., Amiri, R., & Aflatoonian, M. (2021). Laser therapy in cutaneous and genital warts: A review article. Dermatologic Therapy, 34(1), e14671. https://doi.org/10.1111/dth.14671
Kazi, R., Evankovich, M. R., Liu, R., Liu, A., Moorhead, A., Ferris, L. K., Falo, L. D., & English, J. C. (2021). Utilization of asynchronous and synchronous teledermatology in a large health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine and e-Health, 27(7), 771–777. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2020.0299
Kruse, C. S., Karem, P., Shifflett, K., Vegi, L., Ravi, K., & Brooks, M. (2018). Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 24(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X16674087
Kwok, C. S., Gibbs, S., Bennett, C., Holland, R., & Abbott, R. (2012). Topical treatments for cutaneous warts. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012(9), CD001781. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001781.pub3
Lee, J. J., & English, J. C. (2018). Teledermatology: A review and update. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 19(2), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-017-0317-6
Maghiar, L., Sandor, M., Sachelarie, L., Bodog, R., & Huniadi, A. (2024). Skin lesions caused by HPV—A comprehensive review. Biomedicines, 12(9), 2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12092098
Mohta, A., Jain, S. K., Kushwaha, R. K. S., Singh, A., Gautam, U., & Nyati, A. (2021). Estimating the impact of extragenital warts versus genital warts on quality of life in immunocompetent Indian adult patients: A comparative cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Dermatology, 66(1), 44–50. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijd.IJD_290_19
Mullen, S. A., Ghouse, S. M., Daveluy, S., Schrom, K., & Shi, V. Y. (2024). Systematic review of intralesional therapies for cutaneous warts. JAAD International, 14, 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjidi.2024.100264
Nofal, A., Salah, E., Nofal, E., & Yosef, A. (2013). Intralesional antigen immunotherapy for the treatment of warts: Current concepts and future prospects. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 14(4), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-013-0018-8
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L. A., Stewart, L. A., Thomas, J., Tricco, A. C., Welch, V. A., Whiting, P., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Salah, E. (2018). Impact of multiple extragenital warts on quality of life in immune-competent Egyptian adults: A comparative cross-sectional study. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 11, 289–295. https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S165908
Shen, S., Ni, X., Zhao, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, Y., & Liu, J. (2022). Efficacy of photodynamic therapy for warts induced by human papillomavirus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, 38, 102832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2022.102913
Stanley, M. (2012). Immunobiology of HPV infection. Vaccine, 30(Suppl. 5), F83–F87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.05.016
Sterling, J. C., Gibbs, S., Haque Hussain, S. S., Mohd Mustapa, M. F., & Handfield-Jones, S. E. (2014). British Association of Dermatologists’ guidelines for the management of cutaneous warts 2014. British Journal of Dermatology, 171(4), 696–712. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.13310
Topol, E. J. (2019). High-performance medicine: The convergence of human and artificial intelligence. Nature Medicine, 25(1), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0300-7
Trettel, A., Eissing, L., & Augustin, M. (2018). Telemedicine in dermatology: Findings and experiences worldwide—A systematic literature review. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 32(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.14341
Tschandl, P., Rinner, C., Apalla, Z., Argenziano, G., Codella, N., Halpern, A., Janda, M., Lallas, A., Longo, C., Malvehy, J., Paoli, J., Puig, S., Sinz, C., Soyer, H. P., & Kittler, H. (2020). Human–computer collaboration for skin cancer recognition. Nature Medicine, 26(8), 1229–1234. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0942-0
Vakharia, P. P., Chopra, R., Silverberg, N. B., & Silverberg, J. I. (2018). Efficacy and safety of topical cantharidin treatment for molluscum contagiosum and warts: A systematic review. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 19(6), 791–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-018-0375-4
World Health Organization. (2021). Global strategy on digital health 2020–2025. World Health Organization.
Zhu, P., Qi, R. Q., Yang, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, Y., & Liu, J. (2022). Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous warts (2022). Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 15(3), 284–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/jebm.12494
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sylwia Hejna, Weronika Smutkiewicz, Weronika Teterycz, Wiktoria Goździejewska, Łukasz Jaworek, Gabriela Zimka, Krystian Bjorgen, Lilianna Jasińska, Magdalena Roman, Martyna Lipiarz

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published in open-access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Hence, authors retain copyright to the content of the articles.
CC BY 4.0 License allows content to be copied, adapted, displayed, distributed, re-published or otherwise re-used for any purpose including for adaptation and commercial use provided the content is attributed.

