Efficacy of photodynamic therapy for warts induced by human papilloma virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The incidence of warts caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is very high in the population. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as an emerging method for wart treatment, has been demonstrated to be effective and safe by an increasing number of studies. This meta-analysis of previous literature aimed to investigate the potential of PDT as a first-line treatment for warts. Methods: To acquire proper and accurate information from relevant literature, the four databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched. The wart clearance rate and patient cure rate were analysed as the primary outcomes. The recurrence rate, patient satisfaction and adverse reactions were also recorded. Results: A total of 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included based on our search strategy. In the hand and foot wart group, PDT showed a statistically significant improvement in the wart clearance rate compared with placebo (P = 0.02), other lasers (P < 0.0001), and cryotherapy (P < 0.009). PDT use in the condyloma acuminatum group was not superior in terms of the wart clearance rate, with a value lower than that of the carbon dioxide (CO2) laser (P = 0.003) and electrosurgical generator (P < 0.00001). However, all studies mentioned a significant decrease in the recurrence rate after PDT. In the plane wart group, PDT demonstrated its superiority over placebo (P = 0.003) and cryotherapy (P = 0.007) in terms of the cure rate. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that PDT provided several benefits, including but not limited to positive clinical outcomes, low recurrence rates and minor adverse reactions. The use of PDT as first-line therapy can be recommended.