There are now at least 70 known types of human papillomaviruses (HPV).
Historically they have been grouped according to the location of the
lesions, thus the terminology mucosal types (including HPV infecting the
genital and the respiratory tracts) and cutaneous types (including HPV
causing cutaneous warts and epidermodysplasia verruciformis - EDV). The
different HPV types present diverse oncogenic potential and data have
accumulated to support a role for mucosal HPV in cervical cancer. Genital
HPV 16, 18, 31, 33 and 35 represent the high risk viruses associated to
malignancy while HPV 6 and 11 have been predominantly found in benign
genital lesions. In cutaneous lesions, HPV 1 and 2 are related to common
warts while HPV 5 and 8 are associated to EDV. Thus, HPV typing predicts
partially the site of the infection, the pathological features and the
clinical course of the infection. {P}
