PhD defence by Marianne Gardar Stærk

Assessment Committee

Professor Mikkel Mejlgaard Fode, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Professor Jan Blaakær, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Dr Kate Cuschieri, Lead HPV Research Group, Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh

Supervisors

Professor Susanne Krüger Kjær
Christian Munk
Associate Professor Birgitte Grønkær Toft

Department

Department of Clinical Medicine

Graduate Programme

Public Health and Epidemiology

Place

Building: 5.1.A.B, Room: 5.1.A.B, Kræftens Bekæmpelse, Strandboulevarden 49, 2100, KBH Ø

Email address to gain access to the thesis: staerk.marianne@gmail.com.
You will either receive a copy of the thesis or be informed where you can read a physical copy.
Recipients of copies of the thesis are not allowed to share or distribute it due to copyright compliance.

Short description of the thesis

Penile cancer is among the rarer malignancies with an average of 77 new penile cancers diagnosed each year in Denmark. Most of these cancers are squamous cell carcinomas arising in the squamous epithelium of the glans or foreskin of the penis. The existing literature underscores two major etiological pathways for penile cancer: A pathway related to persistent high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection and a pathway related to local chronic inflammation such as penile lichen sclerosus (LSc). Due to the rarity of this cancer, there is a scarcity in large-scale and population-based data on penile LSc and HPV in penile cancer development. The overall aim of this thesis was to provide data based on large-scale studies to explore the role of penile lichen sclerosus, representing the chronic inflammatory pathway, and HPV in penile cancer.