Mutational landscape of penile squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese population

Penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) is a malignancy that affects the skin and tissues of the penis, but the knowledge of pathogenesis and carcinogenesis is limited. Here, we characterize the PSCC genomic landscape using whole-exome sequencing. Of the 30 paired blood and tumor samples, we identified recurrent mutations in 11 genes; confirmed previous findings for FAT1 (4/30), HRAS (4/30), NOTCH1 (4/30), TP53 (3/30) and PIK3CA (3/30); and revealed novel candidate driver genes [CASP8 (4/30), SLITRK2 (3/30), FLG (3/30) and TRRAP (3/30)]. Our in vitro experiments suggested CASP8 was involved in mediating TRAIL-induced apoptosis of penile cancer cell lines. We also observed the frequently altered pathways for potential therapeutic implications: alterations in the Notch (30% of sample altered), RTK-RAS (26.7% altered) and Hippo (23.3% altered) pathways accounted for over 50% of tumors. The frequently altered genes (>10%) in these pathways were proved to be expressed in penile tumors by immunohistochemistry assay. These findings provide new insight into the mutational and pathway landscapes of PSCC and suggest potential novel therapeutic opportunities for this malignancy.