Treatment of carcinoma of the penis: the case for primary lymphadenectomy.

There were 65 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis followed for a minimum of 5 years. Patients with stage I disease uniformly survived with local treatment only. Of the patients with stages II and III carcinoma of the penis 88 and 66 per cent, respectively, were free of disease if lymphadenectomy was performed shortly following treatment of the primary lesion, compared to only 38 and 0 per cent, respectively, if the primary lesion was treated locally and no lymphadenectomy was performed. These data support the concept that lymphadenectomy should be an integral part of the primary treatment in patients with stages II and III penile cancer.