Neoadjuvant docetaxel, cisplatin and ifosfamide (ITP) combination chemotherapy for treating penile squamous cell carcinoma patients with terminal lymph node metastasis.

Background: Chemotherapy may be a valuable treatment option as neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced penile cancer according to some previous studies, but the rarity of the sample and the Lack of large-scale clinical trials hampered the attempt to establish a solid evidence base for its routine use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with a ITP regimen including docetaxel, cisplatin and ifosfamide for treating advanced penile cancer patients.

Methods: A total of 19 patients who were classified into advanced penile cancer (PN3) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy of ITP regimen from June 2009 to June 2016 in our hospital.

Results: After chemotherapy 12 patients had a partial response (PR), 5 had stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) in 2 cases. The 12 responders underwent penectomy, bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy (ILND) and pelvic lymph node dissection (LPLND). In contrast, 7 cases who were non-responsive received palliative local radiotherapy. After a median follow-up of 30.6 months, there was statistically significant improvement in median PFS and OS among patients who experienced an objective response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (group A) compared with those patients who did not respond to chemotherapy (group B) (log-rank test; P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Neoadjuvant docetaxel, cisplatin and ifosfamide chemotherapy gave 63% (12/19) of patients who were diagnosed with stage n3 penile cancer the chance of radical resection of metastases, and their OS and PFS were significantly higher than those who could not be operated on and the therapeutic dose, toxic and side effects are acceptable in the Chinese Han population. Therefore, neoadjuvant ITP chemotherapy in the treatment of stage T3 penile cancer patients may have cheerful prospects in the Chinese Han population.