Italian observational study on HPV infection, E6, and p16 expression in men with penile cancer

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the most important causes of cancer. It can play a role in cervical and extra-cervical cancers. Penile cancer is rare, even if an increasing trend was recently reported. Aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence and distribution of HPV genotypes in cases of penile cancer diagnosed in Sardinia, Italy. Surrogate markers of HPV infection (i.e., E6 and p16 genes) were also evaluated in all cases.

An observational, retrospective study which recruited all cases of penile cancer diagnosed between 2002 and 2019 at a tertiary care hospital in Sardinia, Italy, was carried out. HPV-DNA detection and genotyping were performed by Real-time PCR. Specimens were tested for oncogene E6 mRNA and for p16(INK4a) expression.

HPV prevalence was 28.1% (9/32); HPV-16 was the most prevalent genotype (7/9, 77.8%). p16INK4a positivity was found in 66.7% of the samples with a statistically significant difference between HPV-positive and -negative groups. E6-transcript was detected in 71% of the HPV-16 positive samples. The overall survival was not statistically different between HPV-positives and -negatives.

The present study confirms the etiologic role of HPV in penile cancer and supports the adoption of vaccination strategies in men and women. Further studies should clarify the diagnostic and prognostic role of E6 and p16 proteins.

HPV infection can favor the occurrence of penile cancer, whose diagnosis and prognosis could be improved with the implementation of validated molecular techniques.