Intralesional injection of interferon-α2b improves penile curvature in men with Peyronie's disease independent of plaque location.

Clostridium collagenase histolyticum (CCH) is the only FDA-approved treatment for Peyronie's disease (PD); however, CCH has not been studied in men with ventral plaques.

Given this limitation and the paucity of literature on ventral plaque outcomes, we sought to compare results of PD treatment in men with different plaque locations undergoing intralesional interferon-α2b (ILI IFN).

A retrospective analysis was performed on men who had undergone ILI IFN treatment for PD at one institution from 2001-2014, receiving 2 million units of IFN injected every 2 weeks for 6-24 treatments. All men underwent pre- and post-IFN penile duplex Doppler ultrasounds (PDDU). Patient characteristics, PDDU, and objective measurements were reviewed. Patients were stratified into ventral and dorsal/lateral plaque cohorts, with a positive response defined as ≥ 20% reduction in curvature.

131 patients with a mean age of 53.8 ± 9.5 years underwent a median of 12 ILI IFN injections (range 6-24). Mean pretreatment dorsal curvatures were 42.5° ± 18.6° (group 1; n=111) and ventral 44.5° ± 21.5° (group 2; n=21), p=0.66. Overall, 91% of patients responded to therapy. No significant differences were noted between the two groups in regards to response rates (54% vs. 52%, p = 0.92) or absolute changes in curvature (8.7° ± 12.6° vs. 9.3° ± 17.7°, p = 0.84).

Treatment with ILI of IFN provides >20% reduction in curvature in the majority of men with PD. This improvement is independent of plaque location.

J Urol. 2015 Jul 2. pii: S0022-5347(15)04311-6. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.06.096. [Epub ahead of print]

Stewart CA, Yafi FA, Knoedler M, Mandava SH, McCaslin IR, Sangkum P, Sikka S, Trost L, Hellstrom WJ.