• Question: can a wart cause cancer?

    Asked by issiphee1 to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      No – although you should be sure that any skin lesion you are unsure of is checked out by your GP.

      Also, warts are caused by a virus, and can be spread from person to person – so get it treated as soon as possible before it gets around!

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Nope. Warts are caused by the same family of viruses that can cause cervical cancer. But as far as I know, there’s no evidence at all that the wart-causing viruses can cause cancer.

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Some benign lumps can turn into cancers, but I’ve never heard of a wart becoming cancerous.

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      That’s a great question, because the Human Papilloma Virus causes both warts and some cancers, like cervical cancer. There are lots of different types of Human Papilloma Virus though and the types which cause warts are not usually the same types which cause cancer.

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