Purpose: To analyze the results of exclusive brachytherapy (BT) to treat patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma confined to the glans or prepuce.
Methods and materials: Retrospective analysis of 25 patients treated for T1-T2 penile cancer with exclusive interstitial BT between July 1989 and March 2014 at our institution.
Results: Median followup was 9.2 years (range, 0-19). The mean patient age was 65.3 years (range, 51-80). Most patients underwent exclusive low-dose-rate BT (56%; n = 14) or pulsed-dose-rate BT (40%; n = 10). Only 1 patient received high-dose-rate BT (4%). The median prescribed dose was 60 Gy. Eight patients died during follow-up because of systemic progression (one case) and other intercurrent causes (seven cases). Two failures were recorded (one local and one regional), both at 4 months after BT. The remaining patients continued follow-up at our institution and maintained response. Two patients underwent partial phallectomy for toxicity. At the time of this report, 12 of the 25 patients are alive and free of disease. The most common late toxicities were telangiectasia, urethral stenosis, and atrophy, in 48%, 43%, and 17.4% of patients, respectively.
Conclusions: BT with low dose rate/pulsed dose rate provides excellent locoregional control for small (≤4 cm) T1-T2 squamous cell carcinoma of the penile glans.
Keywords: Brachytherapy; Penile cancer; Retrospective analysis.
Copyright © 2015 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.