Squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum: long-term followup of 14 patients

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum was diagnosed in 14 patients from 1945 to 1990. Patient age at diagnosis ranged from 40 to 73 years, with the mean age of 62 years. The most common presentation was a solitary skin lesion but inguinal adenopathy was noted in 5 patients (36%). The mean delay to diagnosis for all patients was 22 months, with a range of 2 months to 10 years. Predisposing factors included psoriasis treated with coal tar or arsenic, human papillomavirus infection and multiple cutaneous epitheliomas. The primary lesion was treated by local or wide local excision in all 14 patients. In addition, 4 patients underwent inguinal lymphadenectomy and 3 underwent radiotherapy to the pelvic and inguinal lymph nodes. Mean followup for all patients was 6 years. However, 11 patients were disease-free with a mean followup of 7 years. Improved prognosis was noted in patients with locally confined disease or carcinoma in situ only. There was no correlation between grade of tumor and survival. All patients with stages A1 and B disease treated with wide local excision and/or inguinal lymphadenectomy have done well on followup. Radiotherapy does not appear to impact on survival for patients with high stage disease.