Abstract

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is estimated to play an etiologic role in 40-50% of penile cancers worldwide. Estimates of HPV prevalence in U.S. penile cancer cases are limited.

METHODS: HPV DNA was evaluated in tumor tissue from 79 invasive penile cancer patients diagnosed in 1998-2005 within the catchment areas of seven U.S. cancer registries. HPV was genotyped using PCR-based Linear Array and INNO-LiPA assays and compared by demographic, clinical, and pathologic characteristics and survival. Histological classification was also obtained by independent pathology review.

RESULTS: HPV DNA was present in 50 of 79 (63%) of invasive penile cancer cases. Sixteen viral genotypes were detected. HPV 16, found in 46% (36/79) of all cases (72% of HPV-positive cases) was the most prevalent genotype followed equally by HPV 18, 33, and 45, each of which comprised 5% of all cases. Multiple genotypes were detected in 18% of viral positive cases. HPV prevalence did not significantly vary by age, race/ethnicity, population size of geographic region, cancer stage, histology, grade, penile subsite, or prior cancer history. Penile cases diagnosed in more recent years were more likely to be HPV-positive. Overall survival did not significantly vary by HPV status.

CONCLUSION: The relatively high prevalence of HPV in our study population provides limited evidence of a more prominent and, possibly, increasing role of infection in penile carcinogenesis in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-5-2014

Notes/Citation Information

Published in Frontiers in Oncology, v. 4, article 9, p. 1-7.

© 2014 Hernandez, Goodman, Unger, Steinau, Powers, Lynch, Cozen, Saber, Peters, Wilkinson, Copeland, Hopenhayn, Huang, Watson, Altekruse, Lyu, Saraiya and The HPV Typing of Cancer Workgroup. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2014.00009

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