Squamous cell carcinoma of the penis: a clinicopathological study from a population with late circumcision

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis has been subject to only a few studies in populations where late childhood circumcision is performed. To asses clinicopathological features and human papillomavirus (HPV) status of penile SCC in men with late circumcision, eight institutions in the country volunteered to collaborate and 15 cases of penile SCC were collected from their pathology archives. The presence and genotype of HPV were determined in addition to clinicopathological features of the tumors. Findings were correlated with disease outcome. The mean age of the patients evaluated was 66.5 years. Histological subtypes were usual SCC (6/15), papillary (2/15), mixed (2/15), basaloid (2/15), acantholytic (1/15), pseudohyperplastic (1/15), and warty-basaloid (1/15) carcinomas. HPV was identified in 33.3% of samples; HPV16 was detected in 60% of positive cases and was associated with basaloid and/or warty morphology. Cause-specific 1-year and 2-year survivals were 76.9% and 54.5%, respectively. The usual subtype and nodal metastasis were associated with worse outcome (p=0.045 and p=0.047, respectively). As a conclusion, our results suggest an inclination for penile SCC to develop at a later age in a population with late circumcision than the patients from the regions of high penile cancer incidence. These men seem to have less frequent HPV association and their outcome appears poorer than other populations, although reaching substantial provision is not possible due to our limited case number.