Cancer of the penis. Prognosis and treatment plans

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Abstract
Sixty-one patients with clinical low-stage (Jackson Stage I) and 22 patients with clinical high-stage (Jackson Stage II or III or T3-4NO-1MO) carcinoma of the penis who were seen between 1952 and 1979 and followed for at least 3 years or until death were reviewed. The majority of patients with Stage I cancer were treated with partial penectomy, either with or without ilioinguinal lymphadenectomy. The remainder of patients with these early small lesions were treated with local excision or circumcision. Forty-one of the patients with this early penile cancer (Jackson Stage I or Tcis, T1N0M0 or T2N0M0) survived at least 3 years and were considered cured. The other 20 patients died of cancer (12 cases) or unrelated disease (8 cases). If the patients who died of other diseases are excluded, the corrected 5-year survival rate was 77%. Treatment failure was primarily due to metachronous inguinal metastases after initial treatment of the primary tumor and failure of response of metastatic disease to salvage treatment. Four factors probably were associated with a poor prognosis: large primary tumor, moderately to poorly differentiated cancer, younger age at onset, and inadequate initial treatment. In advanced (Jackson Stages II and III) disease, treatment by partial or total penectomy alone or in combination with radiation to inguinal nodes after penectomy produced 3-year or longer survival in only 2 of 9 patients, whereas treatment by early extended excision of both the primary lesion and the ilioinguinal lymph nodes produced 3-year or longer survival in 11 of 13 patients. The results suggest that local excision is appropriate only for carcinoma in situ. Partial penectomy and monthly follow-up for at least 1 year is appropriate for patients with small, well-differentiated primary tumors. Patients who have large or moderately to poorly differentiated primary tumors probably should undergo partial or total penectomy and immediate ilioinguinal lymphadenectomy.

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