Viral “Tumorigenesis” in man: Cell markers in condylomata acuminata

Determination of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) phenotype of a neoplasm occurring in a heterozygous female can be used to trace the cellular origin of the tumor. This technique was performed on 834 individual verrucous subunits from four condylomata acuminata (venereal warts) arising in two patients heterozygous for a B and an A gene at the G-6-PD locus. All four specimens contained both A and B types of G-6-PD. Furthermore, even single verrucous subunits from each specimen occasionally contained both enzyme types. These data indicate that condylomata acuminata have a multicellular origin. The initial number of cells which, after viral infection, developed into a condyloma acuminatum was estimated to be about 4,400 cells, on the basis of statistical analysis of the data in one case.