Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May 29;18(1):50.
doi: 10.1186/s12894-018-0365-0.

Penile cancer in Maranhão, Northeast Brazil: the highest incidence globally?

Ronald Wagner Pereira Coelho  1 , Jaqueline Diniz Pinho  2 , Janise Silva Moreno  1 , Dimitrius Vidal E Oliveira Garbis  3 , Athiene Maniva Teixeira do Nascimento  3 , Joyce Santos Larges  4 , José Ribamar Rodrigues Calixto  3   4 , Leandra Naira Zambelli Ramalho  5 , Antônio Augusto Moura da Silva  6 , Leudivan Ribeiro Nogueira  1 , Laisson de Moura Feitoza  3 , Gyl Eanes Barros Silva  7   8   9
Affiliations

Penile cancer in Maranhão, Northeast Brazil: the highest incidence globally?

Ronald Wagner Pereira Coelho et al. BMC Urol. .

Abstract

Background: The objectives of this study were to determine the minimum incidence of penile cancer in the poorest Brazilian state, and to describe the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with the disease.

Methods: A retrospective study of 392 patients diagnosed with penile cancer in the three most important referral center in the state was conducted during 2004-2014.

Results: The age-standardized incidence was 6.15 per 100,000 and the crude annual incidence was 1.18 per 100,000. More than half (61.1%) of the tumors were histological grades 2 and 3, and 66.4% of tumors were classified as at least stage T2. The average age of patients was 58.6 ± 15.7 years (range, 18 to 103 years), with 20.8% of patients ≤40 years of age at diagnosis. The vast majority underwent penectomy (93%). Only 41.8% underwent lymphadenectomy, 58 patients (14.8%) received chemotherapy, and 54 patients (13.8%) received radiotherapy. Stage 3/4 and vascular invasion were statically significant at disease-free survival analysis.

Conclusion: The state of Maranhão has the highest incidence of penile cancer in Brazil and globally. Tumors are locally advanced and at the time of diagnosis, and there is a high frequency among young individuals. Patients have a low socioeconomic status, making it difficult to complete treatment and receive appropriate follow-up.

Keywords: Age-standardized incidence; Carcinoma; Penectomy; Penis cancer; Squamous cell carcinoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This work was in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Maranhão [process no. 43774215.7.0000.5086] and informed consent was waived.

Consent for publication

Figure 1: Available for sending at any stage.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan-Meier estimated disease-free survival rate in available 111 patients according to American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (p ≤ 0.05)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan-Meier estimated disease-free survival rate in available 111 patients according to presence of vascular invasion (p ≤ 0.05)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
A 42-year-old patient with advanced disease show auto-penectomia and inguinal fistula
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Christodoulidou M, Sahdev V, Houssein S, Muneer A. Epidemiology of penile cancer. Curr Probl Cancer. 2015;39:126–36. doi: 10.1016/j.currproblcancer.2015.03.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Culkin DJ, Beer TM. Advanced penile carcinoma. J Urol. 2003;170:359–65. doi: 10.1097/01.ju.0000062829.43654.5e. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chaux A, Netto GJ, Rodríguez IM, Barreto JE, Oertell J, Ocampos S, et al. Epidemiologic profile, sexual history, pathologic features, and human papillomavirus status of 103 patients with penile carcinoma. World J Urol. 2013;31:861–7. doi: 10.1007/s00345-011-0802-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pow-Sang MR, Ferreira U, Pow-Sang JM, Nardi AC, Destefano V. Epidemiology and natural history of penile cancer. Urology. 2010;76:S2–6. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2010.03.003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reis AA da S, Paula LB de, Paula AAP de, Saddi VA, Cruz AD da. Clinico-epidemiological aspects associated with penile cancer. Cien Saude Colet. 2010;15:1105–11. - PubMed