Carcinoma of the penis: the Indian experience

A total of 150 evaluable patients with carcinoma of the penis were treated at the Tata Memorial Hospital between 1984 and 1987. The majority of patients were in the 4th to 7th decades. All patients presented with a growth on the penis, the biopsy of which revealed squamous carcinoma. The primary lesions were T1 in 34, T2 in 73, T3 in 41, and T4 in 2 patients, respectively. The inguinal nodes were not palpable (N0) in 77 patients, palpable but histologically not metastatic in 39 patients, and metastatic in 34 patients. The treatment of the primary lesion was surgery in 142 patients and radiation therapy in 8 patients. Patients with nonpalpable nodes were kept under surveillance and those with pathologically metastatic nodes were subjected to bilateral ilioinguinal lymphadenectomy. The size related 5 year survivals were 83.3% for T1, 60.4% for T2, and 39.5% for T3 lesions. The 5 year survivals for patients with grade I lesions were 90.3%, for grade II 58.6%, and for grade III 16.7%. The 5 year survival rate for patients for N0 nodes was 75.4% while the 3 year survival rates for patients with N1 and N2 nodes were 40% and 38.8%, respectively. The factors signifying poor survival were perinodal extension and iliac node metastases. There were 8 penile stump recurrences, of which 6 could be salvaged. Metachronous inguinal node metastases developed in 16 patients among whom surgical lymphadenectomy was possible in 12 while 4 had unresectable metastases.