Penile cancer: epidemiology and treatment

Penile cancer is an aggressive disease, with major psychological and social impact. The etiological factors are poor genital hygiene, the presence of phimosis, viral infection, ultraviolet radiation, smoking, balanitis xerotic obliterans, and chronic lichen. Identifying prognostic factors is important to select patients at risk for lymph node metastasis and avoid unneeded lymphadenectomy. The presence of lymph node metastasis is currently the strongest prognostic factor but its evaluation is imperfect using clinical and laboratorial methods. The treatment for invasive penile cancer is based on the treatment of primary tumor, usually with amputation and regional lymphadenectomy, treatments that have a high morbidity rate.