What is bleomycin?

Bleomycin is an anti-cancer drug that can also treat warts.

How do you use it?

The area to be treated is first anesthetized (numbed or frozen) with local anesthesia. Then, using a very tiny needle, a tiny quantity is injected into the skin just under the wart. Multiple punctures are used in a "needling" fashion making the wart into a pincushion. The body then forms a blood blister under the wart with the wart in the roof of the blister. The blister needs no care other than taking weight off of it if it hurts. Two weeks later the blood blister is "trimmed" and, with luck, the wart goes along with it. One cc is the most bleomycin that should be injected at one time. This will treat up to six or seven regular sized warts. It is not unusual to have warts so numerous or so large as to need more than one treatment.

Is it safe?

Millions of people have received bleomycin safely. In high doses it can cause cancer in rats. Because of this potential, I prefer not to use bleomycin in women who might be or could soon get pregnant. There is no reason to believe that the small quantity injected into a foot wart could cause damage to an unborn baby, but I do not want to take a chance.

Is it expensive?

The cost is the worst part of bleomycin treatment. The smallest vial contains 15 units and costs about $350! If your insurance pays for medications, I can give you a prescription for it and you can bring it to the office. Alternatively, I can bill your insurance company for one third of the medication, but they might not pay for it. I divide the medication into thirds and charge $120. If your insurance company does not pay for it, I will ask you for the $120.

Is it successful?

Treating warts with bleomycin is about 80% effective, or the same as surgical excision. If you have 10 warts, two of them are likely to remain after bleomycin treatment.