Onkológia 3/2024

State of the art and treatment perspectives of penile cancer

Penile cancer is a rare malignancy, which mostly affects men in their sixties. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histology with about half of the cases linked to human papilloma virus infection. The lack of awareness and significant social and especially psychological stigma associated with this type of cancer often leads to delays in diagnosis and complex patient’s management. But only timely adequate multidisciplinary approach at specialized centers is critical for improving patient’s outcomes. Unfortunately, for patients with advanced penile cancer, the treatment options are still limited, and their prognosis remains henceforward poor. Due to these facts, now days, large international efforts are underway to define the optimal standards of care for these patients. Targeted therapies or immune checkpoint inhibitors could potentially play a role in advanced disease and are under evaluation in clinical trials. This article reviews the current integrated point of view in terms of the etiopathogenesis, diagnostics, treatment management as well as new treatment perspectives in penile cancer patients.

Keywords: penile cancer, ethiopathogenesis, treatment, targeted therapy, immune check point inhibitors