Current management and future perspectives of penile cancer: An updated review

• Published in: Cancer treatment reviews 2020-11, Vol.90, p.102087-102087, Article 102087
• Main Authors: Peyraud, Florent, Allenet, Clément, Gross-Goupil, Marine, Domblides, Charlotte, Lefort, Félix, Daste, Amaury, Yacoub, Mokrane, Haaser, Thibaud, Ferretti, Ludovic, Robert, Grégoire, Ravaud, Alain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - therapy; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - virology; Chemotherapy; Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; Combined Modality Therapy; Human health and pathology; Humans; Immunology; Immunotherapy; Life Sciences; Male; Molecular biology; Neoplasm Staging; Papillomavirus Infections - pathology; Penile cancer; Penile Neoplasms - pathology; Penile Neoplasms - therapy; Penile Neoplasms - virology; Perioperative Care; Radiotherapy; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Retrospective Studies; Surgical treatment
• ISSN: 0305-7372; 1532-1967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2020.102087

•Penile cancer is a rare but aggressive disease associated with HPV infection as the main risk factor.•Surgery is the standard of care for localized disease with multimodal approach using perioperative chemotherapy for locally advanced disease.•While metastatic disease remains challenging, discovery of molecular alterations and knowledge of immune tumour microenvironment have recently emerged, offering potential targets for drug development.•With new insights providing in the domains of targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and molecular testing, the landscape of penile cancer continues to evolve. Penile cancer (PeCa) is a rare disease worldwide, accounting for less than one percent of all malignancies in men. It usually presents as a painless ulcer or lump on the head of the penis. Squamous cell carcinoma represents the most common histological subtype of PeCa, with pathogenesis intimately linked to chronic Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection. Surgery is the cornerstone for the treatment of primary PeCa with potential mutilating outcome depending on the nodal extension of the disease. However, in case of extensive lymph node involvement, multidisciplinary treatment including perioperative chemotherapy and inclusion in clinical trial should be considered. To date, advanced or metastatic disease still have poor prognosis and are a therapeutic challenge with limited options, highlighting the need of new treatments and further investigations. Growing efforts to identify molecular alterations, understand the role of HPV and characterize immune contexture have expanded over the past years, providing further perspectives in prognostication, predictive biomarkers and therapeutic intervention. In this review, we provide an updated overview of current management of PeCa focusing on perioperative strategy. We discuss about new insights of the biology of PeCa and comment future directions in the field.