[A preliminary report on penile cancer in the Instituto Oncológico Nacional from 1982 to 1990]

Cancer of the penis is not to common disease and its incidence varies between 0.5 and 5%. In Panama, 70 cases were registered from 1982 to 1990 and it is considered an important social problem in the rural population. Phimosis and poor hygiene are important factors in its etiology. Of 70 cases seen at the National Institute of Oncology from 1982 to 1990, 51 cases were analyzed comparing two approaches in regard to lymph node metastasis: (1) an expectant approach in those without clinically suspected lymph node metastasis, and (2) lymph node biopsy using the Cabañas technique in those clinically suspected followed by lymphadenectomy if the biopsy was positive. The high percentage biopsies (Cabañas technique) as well as the significant morbidity (31.6%) in these patients, compared with no morbidity and the high accuracy of the expectant approach (90%) lead the authors to recommend the Cabañas biopsy technique only for patients of low educational level and difficult follow-up as outpatients. Others patients should be followed clinically for signs of tumor activity.