Systemic interferon therapy for female florid genital condylomata.

A prospective randomized study comparing systemic interferon therapy with placebo in women with florid genital condylomata was carried out. A first group of 22 patients received alpha-interferon (Alfaferone: Alfa-Wassermann Bologna, Italy). 3 x 10(6) IU by i.m. injection every other day for four weeks (total of 12 injections). A second group of 20 patients was treated with a placebo. All patients, before therapy, were submitted to a colposcopic and vulvoscopic examination, a Pap smear and biopsy, in order to confirm the clinical diagnosis. Controls were carried out on all patients as a distance of three, six and twelve months from the end of treatment using colpocytologic, colposcopic and vulvoscopic examinations. One year after the termination of the therapy with interferon 45.4% of patients had a complete recovery compared with 10% of spontaneous recovery in the control group (p = 0.028). The systemic side effects of alfa-interferon, though very frequent, did not limit the use of the product. Our results suggest that systemic alfa-interferon treatment is effective in female genital condylomata, above all in those patients with multifocal florid lesions, both in terms of complete remission and number of relapses.