Combined treatment of epidermodysplasia verruciformis with etretinate and α‐interferon *

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is an uncommon cutaneous disease in which a focal and genetically determined immunological impairment is associated with chronic human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. In sun‐exposed areas, when an oncogenic HPV type is the agent, skin cancer may occur. The treatment of EV is difficult and often unsatisfactory; etretinate has been reported in some instances as effective in improving lesions. We report a typical case of EV with pityriasis versicolor‐like lesions on the trunk and many flat, erythematous wart‐like lesions on the face, dorsal areas of the hands and legs. We performed a treatment with etretinate (1 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks) and subsequently with etretinate and α 2 r‐interferon (3 MU, 3 times per week for 2 weeks, then 6 MU, as above, for 4 weeks). After 4 weeks of therapy with etretinate we observed moderate improvement; we did not observe any further clinical improvement in the final 2 weeks. The subsequent combined treatment with etretinate and a‐interferon achieved further improvement. We conclude that the association of etretinate and a‐interferon may represent an efficacious treatment of EV.