[Carcinoma of the penis: symptomatics, therapy and prognosis (author's transl)]

During the period from 1912 through 1970, 150 cases with a carcinoma of the penis have been examined and treated in the clinics of the university of Göttingen. The preferred age of incidence was between fifty to sixty years. Primary phimosis could be verified in 17.3%, a secondary phimosis, caused by the tumor, in 5.3%. Eighty patients were graded stage I, seventy stage II and more advanced stages. Metastases to the inguinal region were observed in 60.6% out of 99 patients who had undergone lymphadenectomy. Distinctly enlarged inguinal lymph nodes proved to be metastases in only a third of the cases. The staging of a case with carcinoma of the penis, therefore, is not possible by means of clinical criteria alone but needs also a biopsy from the inguinal region. The 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates amounted to 52.5%, 46.7% and 32.4% and did not depend on treatment techniques. The most promising survival rate resulted from a combination of surgical treatment with high-voltage therapy.