Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Di Lorenzo, Giuseppe
• Buonerba, Carlo
• Ferro, Matteo
• Calderoni, Giuseppe
• Bozza, Giovanni
• Federico, Piera
• Tedesco, Beatrice
• Ruggieri, Vitalba
• Aieta, Michele

Titel

The epidermal growth factor receptors as biological targets in penile cancer

Ist Teil von

• Expert opinion on biological therapy, 2015-04, Vol.15 (4), p.473-476

Ort / Verlag

England: Informa UK, Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 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.