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Eur Urol Focus 2022 May 7. Epub 2022 May 7.

Laboratory of Experimental Urology, Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Urology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address:

Background: Systemic treatments for penile squamous cell carcinoma (pSCC) are toxic and inefficient. Patient-based preclinical models are essential to study novel treatments.

Objective: To establish a library of patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX) models of human papillomavirus-positive (HPV) and -negative (HPV) pSCC and characterize these at the genomic and histological levels. Read More

World J Nucl Med 2022 Mar 30;21(1):76-79. Epub 2022 Apr 30.

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Command Hospital (Southern Command), Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Carcinoma penis is a rare malignancy accounting 0.5 to 1% cases in the developed countries with a slightly higher incidence in the developing nations. Slow locoregional progression is characteristic of penile carcinoma and distant metastases are very uncommon. Read More

CASE (Phila) 2022 Apr 16;6(2):67-72. Epub 2022 Feb 16.

Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.

Cancer Treat Res Commun 2022 17;31:100564. Epub 2022 Apr 17.

University of California Irvine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, USA.

Checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 have revolutionized oncologic care delivery, including clinical management of genitourinary malignancies. Despite significant associated improvement in patient outcomes, molecular heterogeneity of tumors, variable tumor engagement with the immune response, and unique patient factors likely account for different clinical responses to immunotherapy agents. A search for predictive biomarkers of treatment response to checkpoint inhibitors is underway and several candidates, although imperfect, have been identified. Read More

Front Oncol 2022 7;12:823459. Epub 2022 Apr 7.

Department of Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.

Penile squamous cell carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor of the male reproductive system. We report two cases of advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma with persistent partial response/complete response after sintilimab combined with chemotherapy and analyze the relevant tumor biomarkers. Read More

Can J Urol 2022 Apr;29(2):11119-11122

Department of Urology, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

Primary urethral carcinoma is a rare oncologic condition with limited data to support organ-sparing therapies. Herein, we present a case of primary urethral squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the bulbar urethra treated with intraurethral 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) who exhibited a complete pathologic response observed at the time of dismembered urethroplasty. The clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment course of our case are reviewed. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2022 Mar 25;14(7). Epub 2022 Mar 25.

Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medicine Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany.

Whereas the lack of biomarkers in penile cancer (PeCa) impedes the development of efficacious treatment protocols, preliminary evidence suggests that c-MET and associated signaling elements may be dysregulated in this disorder. In the following study, we investigated whether c-MET and associated key molecular elements may have prognostic and therapeutic utility in PeCa. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from therapy-naïve patients with invasive PeCa was used for tissue microarray (TMA) analysis. Read More

Front Oncol 2022 23;12:837547. Epub 2022 Mar 23.

Department of Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.

Penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare malignant tumor in males with a poor prognosis. Currently, the primary treatment is surgery. Recurrent cases have limited treatment options after failed radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Read More

Int J Dermatol 2022 Apr 6. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Department of Dermatology, Hôtel-Dieu de France University Hospital, Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.

Rozhl Chir 2022 ;101(3):134-137

Penile cancer is uncommon among other urological malignancies, squamous cell carcinoma being the most common type of penile cancer. This case report presents a patient with rapidly progressive angiosarcoma who underwent penile amputation. Read More

Asian J Surg 2022 Mar 23. Epub 2022 Mar 23.

Urology Center, Department of Urology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. Electronic address:

Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to compare the surgical strategy and clinical outcomes of single-position robotic assisted laparoscopic anterograde bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy for penile cancer.

Materials And Methods: 21 patients were diagnosis with squamous cell carcinoma and identified from March 2010 to December 2020 in our department. Ten patients were received single-position robotic assisted laparoscopic anterograde bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy (robot-assisted group), and eleven patients underwent laparoscopic inguinal lymphadenectomy (laparoscopic group). Read More

Gan To Kagaku Ryoho 2022 Mar;49(3):330-332

Dept. of Gastroenterology and Pediatric Surgery, Tokyo Medical University.

We report a rare case of metastatic small intestine cancer originating from penile cancer triggered by intestinal obstruction, with some review of the literature. The case was a 78-year-old man at the first visit. Partial penile resection was performed for penile cancer. Read More

Am J Surg Pathol 2022 Mar 17. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Department of Pathology Uro-Oncology Unit Institute of Hematologic and Oncologic Diseases, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona Institute of Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Neonatology, Hospital Clinic-the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Faculty of Medicine-University of Barcelona Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona The August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain Institute of Pathology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland Department of Pathology, Research Institute, Health Sciences University Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia.

Most human papillomavirus (HPV)-independent penile squamous cell carcinomas (PSCCs) originate from an intraepithelial precursor called differentiated penile intraepithelial neoplasia, characterized by atypia limited to the basal layer with marked superficial maturation. Previous studies in vulvar cancer, which has a similar dual etiopathogenesis, have shown that about one fifth of HPV-independent precursors are morphologically indistinguishable from high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), the precursor of HPV-asssociated carcinomas. However, such lesions have not been described in PSCC. Read More

JAMA Netw Open 2022 03 1;5(3):e222530. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

Division of Gynecologic Oncology, California Pacific/Palo Alto/Sutter Health Research Institute, San Francisco.

Importance: Nearly 45 000 human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers are diagnosed annually in the US. The HPV vaccine has been approved since 2006, but information on the association between vaccination and the incidence of HPV-attributable cancers is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the potential association of screening and vaccination on the trends of HPV-associated cancers. Read More

Urology 2022 Mar 11. Epub 2022 Mar 11.

Division of Cancer Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Urology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; EJ Whitten Prostate Cancer Research Centre at Epworth Healthcare, Melbourne, Australia. Electronic address:

Objectives: To demonstrate an operative standard for dynamic sentinel lymph node biopsy (DSLNB). Long-term survival in men with penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) depends on accurately staging lymph node metastases. European Association of Urology (EAU) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recognize DSLNB as a standard for staging men with intermediate to high-risk tumors and clinically absent inguinal lymphadenopathy. Read More

Actas Urol Esp (Engl Ed) 2022 04 7;46(3):150-158. Epub 2022 Mar 7.

Servicio de Urología, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.

Objectives: To describe our initial experience with a new minimally invasive inguinal and pelvic single-access laparoscopic approach, for performing lymph node dissection (LND) in penile cancer: the Pelvic and Inguinal Single Access (PISA) technique.

Material And Methods: 10 patients with different penile squamous cell carcinoma stages (cN0 and ≥pT1G3 or cN1/cN2) were operated by means of the PISA technique, between 2015-2018. Intraoperative frozen section analysis was carried out routinely and if ≥2 inguinal nodes (pN2) or extracapsular nodal extension (pN3) are detected, ipsilateral pelvic LND was performed sequentially as a single-stage procedure and using the same surgical incisions. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2022 Feb 22;14(5). Epub 2022 Feb 22.

Department of Urology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.

RAB20, a member of the RAS GTPase oncogene family, is overexpressed in several cancers with poor outcomes, promoting tumorigenesis and inducing genomic instability. Here, we performed comprehensive genomic sequencing on eight penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) and normal tissue pairs and found that RAB20 was upregulated in tumors, especially in metastatic lymph nodes. RAB20 overexpression in tumors was further verified by qPCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry of our newly established PSCC cell lines and paired tissues. Read More

Urol Oncol 2022 04 6;40(4):169.e13-169.e20. Epub 2022 Mar 6.

Department of Urologic Oncology, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Bogotá, Colombia.

Introduction: Penile aesthetics after partial penectomy (PP) for penile cancer (PC), significantly affect a patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL), self-esteem, and sexual function. Satisfactory reconstruction has become a major milestone in the treatment of these patients.

Methods: Clinical charts of all patients that underwent PP and reconstruction with an inverted urethral flap (IUF) were reviewed. Read More

Int J Cancer 2022 06 15;150(11):1879-1888. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Molecular Biology and Viral Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy.

Penile carcinoma develops either through human papillomavirus (HPV) related or unrelated carcinogenic pathways. Genetic alterations and nucleotide changes in coding regions (ie, TP53, CDKN2A, PIK3CA and NOTCH1) are main cancer driver events either in HPV positive or in HPV negative tumours. We investigated the presence of hotspot nucleotide mutations in TERT promoter (TERTp) and PIK3CA exon 9 and their relationship with HPV status in 69 penile cancer cases from Italian and Ugandan patients. Read More

Cancer Med 2022 Mar 3. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.

Background: Penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) survival had no significant improvement since 1990 in the United States. This study aims to get insight into the changing trend and distribution of death causes of PSCC. The epidemiology of PSCC is also investigated. Read More

Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2022 Feb 25;1877(3):188702. Epub 2022 Feb 25.

Department of Biological Sciences, Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA; Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program, Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Electronic address:

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) as a powerful immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment. The application of ICB to genitourinary malignancies has generated substantial clinical benefits for patients with advanced kidney cancer or bladder cancer, yet very limited response to ICB therapy was observed from metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The efficacy of ICB in rare genitourinary tumors (e. Read More

Clin Case Rep 2022 Feb 15;10(2):e05443. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

Department of Abdominal Oncology West China Hospital Sichuan University Chengdu China.

Penile squamous cell carcinoma with pelvic lymph node metastases/recurrence has a poor prognosis. We reported a case with recurrent pSCC was administered cetuximab and anlotinib after failure of first-line treatment and achieved an effective response. Cetuximab combined with anlotinib may be a new choice for relapsed pSCC. Read More

Discov Oncol 2021 Jul 19;12(1):22. Epub 2021 Jul 19.

Department of Urology, First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Road, Suzhou, 215000, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.

Background: To evaluate the association of primary tumor size with clinicopathologic characteristics and survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (SCCP).

Methods: This study analyzed the data of 1001 patients with SCCP, obtained from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2010 and 2014. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to analyze the effects of primary tumor size on overall survival (OS) and penile carcinoma-specific survival (PCSS). Read More

Clin Exp Dermatol 2022 Feb 12. Epub 2022 Feb 12.

Department of Dermatology, University College London Hospital, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Background: Male genital lichen sclerosus (MGLSc) can lead to significant sexual dysfunction and urological morbidity, and is also a risk factor for premalignant disease (penile intraepithelial neoplasia and penile cancer), particularly squamous cell carcinoma. Although the precise aetiopathogenesis of MGLSc remains controversial, accumulated evidence indicates that it is related to chronic, intermittent, occluded exposure to urine.

Aim: To perform spatial mapping of MGLSc across the human prepuce and assess how this supports the urinary occlusion hypothesis. Read More

Actas Urol Esp (Engl Ed) 2022 Mar 2;46(2):70-77. Epub 2022 Feb 2.

Departamento de Urología, Fundació Puigvert, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Introduction And Aim Of The Study: Primary urethral carcinoma (PUC) is a rare neoplastic disease arising in the urethra, without any evidence of a previous or synchronous carcinoma of the entire urinary tract. Since rare diseases are often incorrectly diagnosed and managed, the aim of this study was to analyze the experience of a single urology center in the treatment of PUC, focusing on neoplasms arising from the male anterior urethra.

Materials And Methods: Medical records of patients with neoplasms at the level of the penile and bulbar urethra who presented at our tertiary referral center between January 1988 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Read More

Turk J Urol 2021 Sep;47(5):358-365

MRC Centre for Transplantation, Guy's Hospital Campus, King's College London, King's Health Partners, London, UK;Department of Urology, King's College Hospital, London, UK.

The presence of lymph node metastasis is the most important prognostic indicator for patients with penile cancer. However, predicting which clinically node negative patients will harbor lymph node metastases remains unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of biomarkers p53, Ki-67, and SCCAg in predicting lymph node metastasis (LNM) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Read More

J Immunother Cancer 2022 01;10(1)

Clinical Oncology Unit, University Hospital Careggi, Firenze, Italy

Cemiplimab is a highly potent, hinge-stabilized human IgG4 monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) receptor approved for patients with locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation. Recently, the phase 3 trial EMPOWER-Cervical 1 has investigated cemiplimab in patients with recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer. At interim analysis, overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) in overall and SCC populations favored cemiplimab over single agent chemotherapy. Read More

J Appl Clin Med Phys 2022 Apr 27;23(4):e13538. Epub 2022 Jan 27.

Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Purpose: Use of standard-of-care radiation therapy boluses may result in air-gaps between the target surface and bolus, as they may not adequately conform to each patient's unique topography. Such air-gaps can be particularly problematic in cases of superficial pelvic tumor radiation, as the density variation may result in the radiation delivered to the target site being inconsistent with the prescribed dose. To increase bolus fit and thereby dose predictability and homogeneity, we designed and produced a custom silicone bolus for evaluation against the clinical standard. Read More

Clin Genitourin Cancer 2022 Jan 6. Epub 2022 Jan 6.

Department of Urology, University of Texas Health at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX.

Objective: Chemoresistance in distant micrometastatic lesions may account for diminished durable response rates in advanced penile cancer. However, there are limited studies on new therapeutic targets and the identification of biomarkers that predict chemotherapy response in this population. Thus, we examine the expression of candidate biomarkers of cisplatin resistance, ERCC1 and E2F1, and perform next-generation sequencing on the cancer transcriptome in a penile cancer cohort. Read More

Diagnostics (Basel) 2022 Jan 12;12(1). Epub 2022 Jan 12.

Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.

Although relatively rare in the United States, penile squamous cell carcinoma is encountered worldwide at a higher rate. Initial diagnosis is often made on clinical exam, as almost all of these lesions are externally visible and amenable to biopsy. In distinction to other types of malignancies, penile cancer relies heavily on clinical nodal staging of the inguinal lymph node chains. Read More