DETECTION OF HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS DNA IN NONGENITAL SEBORRHEIC KERATOSES

The histological similarities of seborrhoeic keratoses and common wart s led to the investigation of the possible occurrence of human papillo mavirus DNA (HPV-DNA) in a large number of nongenital seborrhoeic kera toses using the in situ hybridization technique, All specimens derived from normal skin (n = 173) were negative for the applied HPV-DNA prob e, whereas the HPV genome was detected in 33 of 173 seborrhoeic kerato sis specimens (19.65%). Of 34 HPV-positive specimens, 15 contained typ es 6/11 and 14 types 31/33/35, and 5 showed no positive reaction to th e applied types. These results suggest that a considerable percentage of nongenital seborrhoeic keratoses may be related to an HPV infection .