[Penis cancer. The etiological importance of papilloma viruses]

Few studies on molecular biological and genetical studies on penile carcinomas have been published, owing to the low incidence of such tumours. Potential aetiological factors of a viral nature have, however, been the subject of a variety of investigation: DNA sequences of human papillomaviruses HPV 16 and (to a lesser extent) HPV 18 were found in the majority of cases. HPV 16 sequences were found to be integrated into the genome of primary and metastatic penile tumours, suggesting an aetiological significance of HPV 16 in the development of penile carcinomas.