Partial penectomy or total penectomy for T1 and T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the penis?

BACKGROUND: To assess prognostic factors and survival outcomes for partial penectomy (PP) and total penectomy (TP) patients with T1 and T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify 708 penile cancer patients. Among these, 607 underwent PP and 101 underwent TP. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to compare survival outcomes between PP and TP patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to determine prognostic factors. RESULTS: There were significant differences in marital status and regional lymph node removal between patients of the PP and TP groups. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that age [odds ratio (OR) =1.045; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.034–1.057; P<0.0001], T2 carcinoma (OR =1.388; 95% CI: 1.077–1.788; P=0.0114), node stage N1–3 (OR =3.351; 95% CI: 2.317–4.847; P<0.0001), and ≥4 regional lymph nodes removed (OR =0.498; 95% CI: 0.255–0.972; P=0.0411) were independent predictors of overall survival (OS). Age (OR =1.019; 95% CI: 1.005–1.033; P=0.0065), stage N1–3 (OR =5.127; 95% CI: 3.213–8.181; P<0.0001), and ≥4 regional lymph nodes removed (OR =0.452; 95% CI: 0.219–0.932; P=0.0315) were independent predictors of cancer specific survival (CSS). However, there was no significant difference between PP and TP in terms of OS and CSS. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in terms of OS and CSS between patients treated by PP or TP. T2 was associated with shorter OS, while age and N1–3 were associated with shorter OS and CSS. Removal of ≥4 regional lymph nodes was associated with longer OS and CSS.