ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of precursor lesions of penile cancer, to establish the concordance of diagnostic techniques (PCR, Hybrid Capture (HC) and peniscopy with acetic acid 5%) in the diagnosis of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) of the penis of men infected with HIV and to evaluate the influence of the immune status. PATIENTS, METHODS AND RESULTS: 276 men were studied, with a median age of 34.6 years. Prevalence of High Risk HPV, Low Risk HPV and infection with both, according to HC, was 43%, 32% and 22%, respectively. PCR showed 50% of positivity for HPV DNA. Peniscopy was positive in 27% of individuals. Peniscopy showed good specificity and low sensitivity for the detection of penile HPV, and low concordance with PCR. Men with white lesions had a 3.6 higher relative risk of positivity for HPV. The most common clinical lesion observed was vegetation, identified in 29% of patients. PCR and HC techniques showed high sensitivity for HPV DNA and there was an excellent correlation between them. Immunosuppressed individuals with CD4< 200 cells/mm3 had the highest prevalence of pre-malignant lesions that were observed in 10% of the studied individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Peniscopy was important for identification and treatment of subclinical lesions. PCR and HC techniques were sensitive methods for the detection of HPV DNA with high concordance. Severely immunosuppressed individuals showed a higher prevalence of pre-malignant lesions of the penis.