Treatment of condyloma acuminatum using the combination of laser ablation and ALA-PDT

Abstract Background Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and condyloma acuminatum (CA) in the genital area often exist in extensive and multi-point fashion. Laser ablation combined with topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a feasible approach for genital CA but its effectiveness and limitations need to be evaluated. Methods This single-arm prospective study consisted of 100 newly diagnosed CA cases of both sexes. All patients underwent laser ablation and then three times aminolaevulinic acid-based photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT). The outcomes were evaluated and analyzed 3 months after the treatment. Results A total of 98 patients completed the study. Except for 6 patients (4 males and 2 females) showed some residual lesions other 92 patients (93.8%) showed complete cure. However, there were 18 patients (10 males and 8 females) showed new lesions near the treated areas. Although the HPV types of 18 patients before and after treatment were not completely consistent, 94.4% percent of patients (17/18) had the same HPV type as the primary lesion, which suggested that these late-onset CA might have latent infection or subclinical infection in the early stage of the disease but the length of the incubation period was longer. Conclusion Combination approach is effective in treating genital CA and preventing CA recurrence. But its limitations need to be recognized as the late-onset CA might occur near the treated area. The treatment plan needs to be optimized for multiple genital CA lesions.