Non-typical biopsy results of bumps on penis

[tiger27924]

About 3-4 months ago a small bump appeared on the shaft of my penis.  I have been in a mutually exclusive relationship for 3 years now, and yes we have unprotected sex.  The bump concerned me so I went to a dermatologist and she felt like it was representative of a molluscum contagiosum.  There was one bump a little smaller than a bb on the dorsal aspect of my penis in the middle of the shaft.  We also located a few smaller ones on the ventral aspect of the shaft as well.  Bad news for me because I had to face the fact that my girlfriend had likely been unfaithful during our long term relationship.  The bumps were pink to flesh colored, and were not attached to underlying tissue, and slide easily with the superficial epithelial layer of skin.  My dermatologist recommended removing the bumps with a curette and that it should probably take care of the issue.  Well, the bumps came back about 1.5 months ago.  The ventral bumps reappeared in streaks that were similar to the curette marks.  The dorsal bump came back as more of a cluster.  I had moved to VA at this point and went to another dermatologist to re-evaluate the situation.  She felt like the bumps represented HPV (human papilloma virus) and sent off a shaved biopsy and then performed cryotherapy on the bumps.  Unfortunately, the biopsy came back as eczema (????quite frustrating).  There were no evident changes to the cells indicating a viral infection.  Even worse, the bumps are still there.  A week ago another shaved biopsy was taken and now they are going to do a antibody detection assay on the sample to check for HPV.  My doctor seemed to put a lot of faith into the fact that the first biopsy came back negative, but at the same time these bumps came right back.  Is there a disease out there that is a pretender??? One that looks like HPV???  What are my chances of getting rid of these and what are my chances that this is not an STD at this point???  I have no reason to suspect that my girlfriend cheated on me, but I don't want to be nieve at the same time.  Any help or advice that can shed light on these recurring bumps would be appreciated.  They are non-painful, small but noticeable, pink to flesh in color, and not attached to underlying penile tissue, but seem to be associated solely with theh superficial epithelial skin layer, however they seem to recur quite readily even after curretage and cryotherapy.  I could take pictures with my digital camera if that would help.  Thanks in advance.


-Without peace of mind for 3 months and counting

[auntiejessi]

A steroid cream or ointment isn't going to do anything to your immune system.  For steroids to weaken that, you would have to be on oral or injection steroids, like prednisone, long term.

Eczema isn't a general diagnosis if that's what came back on the biopsy.  You should post more about this in the dermatology forum - eczema isn't my area.

Aj

[tiger27924]

Thanks for your response auntiejessi.  I don't want to doubt a diagnosis of eczema, trust me.  Currently I truly don't believe my girlfriend cheated on me, but my fear was that these bumps could be something else that my dermatologist and I weren't considering.  I have not seen photos of eczema that look like well defined, raised, smooth bumps, and was therefore hesitant to pursue the standard therapy of a steroid cream/ointment because if it is a virus or bacteria then I don't want to weaken my immune system's response.  Also, for the bumps to have been removed by curette (cutting them off basically) and also crytherapy, and then to reappear quite rapidly was very concerning to me.  Does that fit the behavior of eczema???  It would seem like the tissue itself would have to be infected for this to occur.  The bumps do not appear red or inflamed.  Eczema is such a general diagnosis that I didn't want to put a fool's hope into it.  I have spoken with my girlfriend about all this and we have had very open and honest conversations. She says all her regular pap smears are normal, and therefore she's telling me not to be concerned about this, but I think that the responsible thing to do is understand what physiology is happening here to be sure that both she and I are not at a greater risk of disease.  Again, thank you auntiejessi, and I look forward to further insight.

[auntiejessi]

If the biopsy said eczema, why is everyone doubting this?  

And on the off chance that this is HPV or molluscum, it doesn't mean that your gf cheated.  HPV can appear years after being infected, and molluscum is spread many other ways than sex.  

You can read more about both at www.ashastd.org.

However, I still wonder why you are doubting the eczema diagnosis.  

Aj