Treatment of viral warts with cimetidine: an open-label study

Abstract

The immunomodulatory actions of cimetidine, an H2-receptor antagonist, and its use in the treatment of viral warts has been described previously but its effectiveness is still debated. We report the results in 47 patients with multiple, nongenital viral warts who were treated with oral cimetidine in a 3-month open-label study. The drug was generally well tolerated and 87% of children and 68% of adults improved with treatment. Follow-up data in 65% of the patients showed that there had been no recurrence in the majority of those whose warts had cleared completely during treatment, whereas warts tended to persist or recur in those who had stopped treatment before all the warts had resolved. Our data suggests that cimetidine may be helpful in the treatment of viral warts in both adults and children and supports the need for a randomized controlled trial.

Topical Immunotherapy with Diphenylcyclopropenone Is Effective and Preferred in the Treatment of Periungual Warts

“…Periungual warts, in particular, are known for the high recurrence rate and recalcitrance and thus present a treatment challenge. A wide range of treatment modalities have been used for warts including cryotherapy1, laser therapy2-4, immunotherapy5,6 and intralesional bleomycin7, among many others. While many of the treatments have limitations in practice due to pain and scarring, especially for those of periungual locations, recent reports have demonstrated that topical immunotherapy with diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP) is a safe and effective treatment modality of recalcitrant warts, which includes the periungual types for its painless application and absence of scarring8-10.…”

Evidence-Based Treatment and Prevention of External Genital Warts in Female Pediatric and Adolescent Patients

“…59 Cimetidine has been well tolerated and has achieved clearance of treatmentresistant, nongenital warts in children. 60 10-25. 64 The vaccines are administered in a series of 3 injections, with the second dose 1-2 months after the first dose, and the third dose 6 months after the first dose.…”

Reply

“…As stated in the initial review article, cimetidine efficacy has been shown in open-label studies for the treatment of warts, but randomized placebo-controlled studies showed no difference between cimetidine and placebo. [5][6][7][8][9] Therefore, the failure of his 2 cases to respond to cimetidine is not surprising. As suggested in our review, the lack of controlled studies in patients with GV presents a challenge in assessing the true role of most therapeutic interventions for this condition.…”