Prognostic value of bilateral inguinal lymph node metastases in node-positive penile cancer

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of bilateral inguinal lymph node metastases in node-positive penile cancer. Methods Sixty patients with surgically resected node-positive penile cancer were analyzed. All the patients underwent regional lymph node dissection. Recurrence free survival curves were plotted by Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the Log-rank test. Multivariate survival analysis was performed using Cox regression model. Results Of all the patients, 18 cases had bilateral inguinal lymph node metastases. The 3-year recurrence free survival rate in patients with bilateral invovlement was significantly lower than those with unilateral disease (26.7 % vs 65.3 %, χ2 =10.6, P=0.001). In order to evaluate wether the prognostic significance of bilateral lymph node metastases was dependent of increased number of positive nodes, the two predictors were included in multivariate survival analysis.Both the number of metastatic nodes and bilateral nodal disease were independent prognostic factors (P ＜0.05).Comparisons of survival curves showed those patients with bilateral nodal disease and more than 2 metastatic nodes had worst outcome. Conclusion Bilateral inguinal lymph node metastases is an important prognostic factor in penile cancer irrespective of the number of positive lymph node. Key words: Penile neoplasms; Lymph node excision; Lymphatic metastasis; Prognosis