Clinicopathological characteristics of carcinoma penis over 10 years in a tertiary-level oncology center in Nepal: a retrospective study of 380 cases.

Purpose: This study was done to find out the clinicopathological characteristics of carcinoma penis in Nepali population and to evaluate various risk factors that predict its inguinal lymph node metastasis.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out at the Urology Unit, Department of Surgical Oncology at BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal. Case notes of biopsy-proven penile cancer, from January 2012 to December 2021, who underwent some form of surgical intervention were included.

Results: A total of 380 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 55.92 ± 13.81 years. At presentation, 78.5% had clinically node-positive disease. The most common treatment for the primary tumor was partial amputation of the penis (74.2%). Bilateral inguinal lymph node dissections were done in 370 cases. The most common histology was the usual SCC in 94.2% of cases and 69% were well differentiated. T3 was the most common staging in 49.4% cases. Pathologically nodal negative status was found in 58% cases. In univariate analysis, factors like duration of symptoms (≥ 6 months), high-risk histopathology (basaloid/sarcomatoid variant), increased T-stage, poorly differentiated tumor, and the presence of PNI or LVI were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis.

Conclusions: Penile cancer is a common cancer in developing countries such as Nepal. The majority of the patients present late. Early recognition and prompt treatment are required to improve the overall outcome.