Human Papillomavirus Infection and Penile Cancer: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSSC) is an uncommon malignant tumor, which accounts for less than 1% of adult male cancers in North America and Europe, but is markedly higher in developing locations, such as Asia, Africa and South America, representing up to 10% of tumors in men. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has shown an important role in penile cancer pathogenesis. In 2009, a systematic review of published literature found that 40% of penile tumors were HPV-related, and that type 16 HPV was the most common subtype in this group (Backes et al., 2009). Another interesting relation between HPV infection and penile cancer is the finding that specific histological subtypes are associated with HPV infection. Penile carcinomas with basaloid differentiation and warty features have shown a strong association with HPV infection, with recent studies showing that HPV infection is present in 76% of basaloid tumors, while the presence in verrucous cancer was 24.5% (Backes et al., 2009).