Drafly

Thymic,

If it is indeed HPV, the initial symptoms may have been minimal and gone un-noticed. You body's immune system may then have acted (in the interim) to keep the HPV virus in more of a "dormant" state. Men have far fewer outward symptoms than women to prompt them to seek treatment.

I had invasive squamous cell cancer of the anus in 1991 caused by HPV. I had also suffered from HPV affecting the cervix, vulva, vagina and peroneum. It was not cancerous in those areas but a stage 3 which is considered a precancerous lesion and must be removed. After surgery, chemo and radiation for the cancer I had no HPV lesions for fifteen years. Then in 2006 it reared its ugly head again.

Now I have squamous cell cancer in the rectum in addition to AIN3 (anal intraepithelia neoplasia).

I'm sure you've heard of chicken pox. One of the best analogies I can give is with the chicken pox virus. Some people who have had chicken pox later on in life go on to develop what is called "shingles", very painful skin lesions usually appearing around the mid-section. This is from the same virus but shows up years later.

I would suggest you get these removed and biopsied to be sure. The only way they can definitively tell if it is HPV is to do an "in situ hybridization" which will show the exact type (number) of HPV if indeed it is positive and help to differentiate between low and high grade HPV.

Hope this helps.