Prise en charge ganglionnaire dans le carcinome épidermoïde du pénis : revue de la littérature par le comité de cancérologie de l’Association française d’urologie – groupe organes génitaux externes (CCAFU–OGE)

Abstract

Invasive lymph nodes are an independent factor of prognosis and essential for the survival of patients with cancer of the penis. The aim of this article is to analyse published research results on the diagnosis and treatment of lymph nodes in cancer of the penis. Bibliographic research on Medline was carried out using the terms penile carcinoma, lymph node dissection, lymphadenectomy, survival, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The risk of lymph node metastasis depends on the stage of the primitive tumour, its histological grade, the presence of venous and lymphatic embolus and the presence of palpable lymph nodes (classification into risk groups by the European Association of Urology [EAU]). A diagnosis of suspected adenopathy based on clinical examination associated with FNA biopsy is essential. No medical imaging (tomodensitometry, NMR, PET-scan) has proven to be superior to clinical examination. The search for the sentinel lymph node although interesting remains to be defined, especially in patients who have no palpated adenopathy but are at risk of metastasis. Not only is surgery on inguinal lymph nodes the only reliable way of confirming an invasive metastatic lymph node, it also plays a therapeutic and prognostic role for patients who have a tumour of the penis which risks spreading to lymph nodes (intermediate or high risk according to EAU). The act should always be two-fold. The type of dissection is in function with the clinical examination: a radical inguinal dissection is recommended in the case of palpated adenopathy and a modified inguinal dissection is recommended if there is no palpated adenopathy, this should be radicalised in the case of metastatic adenopathy on histological examination. Neo-adjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy would appear to play a interesting role when combined with surgery for certain patients without there being currently being precise consensus because of the lack of documented cases. The same goes for external radiotherapy on inguinal lymph nodes which seems to play a role in local controls of the lymph node disease though increases morbidity risks of surgical intervention. Lymph node dissection alone has a therapeutic role in patients who have reached metastasis of lymph nodes (stage pN1). However, it remains insufficient for patients who have metastatic infiltration of more than 2 lymph nodes (stage > or =pN2). Consequently, it would seem important to develop multimodal approaches in the treatment of these patients in order to increase the rate of response to treatment.