Contact Sensitizers (Immunotherapy) for Warts
Examples
| dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) |
| diphencyprone (DCP) |
| squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE) |
How It Works
Contact sensitizers are a form of
immunotherapy. Immunotherapy triggers your
immune system to kill the virus causing the
wart. This destroys the wart.
Two steps
are required to trigger your body's immune system with a contact
sensitizer:
- The contact sensitizer is put on a small area
of your arm or back. Your skin should become red, swollen, itchy, or blistered.
This kind of skin reaction is a sign that the contact sensitizer will work. The
next time the sensitizer is applied to your skin, your body's immune system
will react to it, and the affected area will develop an allergic (immune)
reaction.
- After a few days, the same sensitizer is applied to the
wart (diluted for common warts and concentrated for plantar warts). Repeat
treatments with increasingly concentrated sensitizer are made every week or so
until the immune reaction has cleared the wart.
Why It Is Used
Contact sensitizers are sometimes used
to treat warts that have been resistant to other treatments.
How Well It Works
One review of studies reports that
DNCB removed warts in 80% of the people using it compared to 38% in people
using a
placebo.1 Talk to your doctor
about how well his or her choice of contact sensitizers has worked in clinical
practice.
Side Effects
A severe
allergic reaction can occur with contact sensitizer
treatment.
See Drug Reference for a full list of side effects.
(Drug Reference is not available in all systems.)
What To Think About
Contact sensitizers are not widely
used because they are highly potent, expensive, and require careful handling to
avoid causing unintentional allergic reactions.
Contact
sensitizers are not safe for women who are pregnant, and they are used
infrequently with children.
Complete the new medication information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.
References
Citations
-
Loo SK, Tang WY (2009). Warts (non-genital), search
date June 2008. Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.
Credits
|
By
|
Healthwise Staff |
|
Primary Medical Reviewer
|
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
|
Specialist Medical Reviewer
|
Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology |
|
Last Revised
|
September 2, 2010 |
Last Revised:
September 2, 2010
Loo SK, Tang WY (2009). Warts (non-genital), search
date June 2008. Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.
