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Abstract
Penile cancer is a rare disease, with an incidence that is higher in less developed countries and is in the range of 1 – 10 per 100000 men worldwide. Early diagnosis is essential for cure, as 5 year cancer-specific survival is 90 – 100 % in patients with intraepithelial neoplasms and in those with low-grade superficial tumors without lymphovascular invasion, but it drops to 30% in men with multiple mobile or bilateral inguinal lymph nodes. The EGFR family plays a major role in penile cancer biology, with distinct receptors being involved in HPV-positive and -negative tumors. A number of anti-EGFR agents were used in penile cancer patients outside the context of a clinical trial, mainly as a salvage treatment after failure of first-line chemotherapy. A total of 28 patients received anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies, with 50% of them showing a response to treatment, and a median PFS of ∼ 3 months. The rarity of the disease poses great challenge in terms of education and awareness of the general population, planning of preventive measures on a large scale, as well as conduction of prospective trials and approval of high-cost biological therapy.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Antonella Buono from University of Salerno for the critical revision of the paper.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.