Autopsy findings in 14 patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma

The aim of this study was to describe pathologic features found at autopsy of 14 patients with penile cancer. Nine patients died from disseminated disease; 5 of them presented local/regional recurrences. Five patients died from other causes, 2 of them postoperatively. Local recurrence sites were corpus cavernosum, Buck's fascia and urethra, regional skin, and prostate. Metastatic sites were lymph nodes (9 cases), liver (7 cases), lungs (6 cases), heart (5 cases), adrenals, bone and skin (3 cases each), thyroid and brain (2 cases each), and pancreas, spleen, and pleura (1 case each). Patients with heart metastasis had arrhythmias. Patients who died and who did not die from penile cancer had different profiles: low-grade superficial tumors with usual and warty subtypes versus high-grade deeply invasive basaloid or hybrid verrucous/sarcomatoid carcinomas. A natural history model for penile cancer routes of spread is proposed: local intrapeneal, regional and systemic nodes, regional skin, liver, lungs, heart, and other multiple sites.