A giant verruciform xanthoma.

BACKGROUND: Verruciform xanthoma (VX) is a rare, benign neoplasm arising predominantly in the oral cavity, but it has been reported to occur on the genital skin and mucosa as well. VX has also been described in association with epidermal nevi and squamous cell carcinoma. Because of the clinical and histologic similarities between VX and condyloma acuminata, and a recent report of HPV 6 in association with VX, we investigated the role of human papilloma virus (HPV) in the development of this entity.

METHODS: In situ hybridization and a nested PCR approach utilizing degenerate primers were utilized to establish whether HPV infection could be playing a role in the development of the VX.

RESULTS: In situ hybridization failed to identify HPV DNA. The highly sensitive nested PCR approach also failed to detect HPV DNA.

CONCLUSIONS: The failure to detect HPV DNA, even by very sensitive methods, provides strong evidence that our case of VX is not an HPV-induced lesion. A review of other possible etiologies, including alternative infectious agents and genetic associations, are discussed.