Imiquimod Effective Against Genital Warts In Adolescent Girls.

2001 MAY 24 - (NewsRx Network) -- Results of a new study show that Aldara[TM] (imiquimod) cream 5% is a highly effective treatment for adolescent girls with the sexually transmitted disease genital warts.

Nearly 80% of the patients studied had complete clearance of their warts, and 95% had greater than 50% reduction in the size of their lesions.

Aldara is the first in a new class of drugs called immune response modifiers (IRMs) that demonstrate both antiviral and antitumor activity. IRMs act by stimulating the patient's own immune system to fight the virus and therefore resolve the warts.

Aldara was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 1997 for use in patients 18 and older with external anogenital warts.

"This study is significant because it is among the first to demonstrate that treatment with an immune response modifier is beneficial in this important patient population," said Ricardo Estape, MD, associate professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, who is the lead investigator of the study. "Adolescents with sexually transmitted diseases such as genital warts typically have very poor compliance rates with office-based treatments, so a therapy like Aldara, which patients can use in the privacy of their home, can potentially have an enormous impact."

Approximately four million Americans suffer from genital warts, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). As many as 24 million Americans have been exposed to HPV, making it the fastest spreading sexually transmitted viral disease. HPV is associated with cervical cancer in women.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to STDs. In fact, three million teenagers are infected with a sexually transmitted disease each ...