Health Library Bleomycin Injection for WartsFrom Healthwise

Bleomycin is an anticancer medication used to stop tumor growth.

Although nongenital warts are not cancerous, bleomycin injection is sometimes used to kill skin cells, effectively stopping wart growth.

There is no consistent evidence on how effective bleomycin is for warts. Cure rates have varied between 16% and 94%.¹

Bleomycin causes pain during and after the injection into a wart. Longer-term side effects include:

• Scarring.
• Nail damage.
• Skin color changes.

See Drug Reference for a full list of side effects. (Drug Reference is not available in all systems.)

Bleomycin is injected into warts that have been resistant to other treatments. It is usually used as a last resort because the injection is painful and expensive.

Bleomycin is considered too toxic to safely treat children or pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Bleomycin should not be used in people with Raynaud's phenomenon or peripheral arterial disease.

Complete the new medication information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.

Citations

1. Gibbs S, et al. (2006). Local treatments for cutaneous warts. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1). Oxford: Update Software.

Author:	Sabra L. Katz-Wise Ralph Poore	Last Updated: October 20, 2006
Medical Review:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Randall D. Burr, MD - Dermatology
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