Combined laser treatment for penile carcinoma: results after long-term followup.

PURPOSE

We evaluated local disease control, side effects and cause specific survival of penile carcinoma treated with laser therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In a prospective study from 1986 to 2002 we included 67 men with a mean age of 60 years with newly diagnosed penile carcinoma. No patient was lost to followup.

RESULTS

At a median followup of 42 months (range 12 to 186) 59 patients were alive and 8 had died of penile carcinoma (2) and concurrent disease (6). Of the 13 patients (19%) with local recurrence during the study period 10 underwent repeat laser treatment successfully. Side effects were few but 5 patients (7%) had postoperative bleeding. Overall cosmetic and functional results were highly satisfactory.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study show that treating penile carcinoma with the combination of carbon dioxide and neodymium:YAG lasers can safely be done with highly satisfactory cosmetic results as well as good local tumor control.