Interferon-gamma as adjuvant therapy for resistant warts.

A patient who for 26 years had common warts, which were resistant to various treatment modalities, was treated with a single intralesional injection of interferon-gamma after dinitrochlorobenzene immunotherapy, because immunologic studies indicated she had failed to respond to prior treatment modalities as a result of a functional impairment of her cellular immune response. Within 1 to 2 days, not only the wart injected with interferon-gamma, but also other warts, became erythematous and swollen, giving a lichen planus-like appearance. Without additional injections of interferon-gamma, all warts disappeared completely, leaving slight pigmentation. Interferon-gamma would be most effective when used with, rather than instead of, other immunotherapy.