STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (UroToday.com) - Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is a known risk factor for penile cancer (PC) development.
The reported proportion of PC associated with high-risk HPV ranges from 30% to 100%. Given the rising incidence of HPV-associated head and neck squamous cell cancer, Dr. Djajadiningrat and colleagues sought to assess the prevalence of high-risk HPV in a contemporary cohort of patients with PC. PC specimens from 213 patients, treated between 2001 and 2009, were tested for high-risk HPV DNA using PCR. Positive samples were then typed using a reverse line blot assay. Survival rates were calculated and compared based on the presence of high-risk PC.
Fifty-three men (25%) had high-risk HPV DNA detected in their specimen, with a predominance of subtype 16 (79%). At a median follow-up of 59 months (range 40-68 months), 5-year cancer-specific survival was 82% and 96% in patients with high-risk HPV-negative and positive disease, respectively. As has been previously described, HPV infection is present in a small subset of PC patients, and the prevalence of HPV-associated PC has not increased over the past decade. Further, infection with high-risk HPV (as evidenced by the presence of high-risk HPV DNA) appears to confer a survival advantage for patients with PC.
Presented by R.S. Djajadiningrat at the 29th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress - April 11 - 15, 2014 - Stockholmsmässan - Stockholm, Sweden
The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Department. of Urology, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Written by Jeffrey J. Tomaszewski, MD, medical writer for UroToday.com