Value of the neodymium-YAG laser in the therapy of penile carcinoma.

Mutilation with associated functional losses characterizes current therapy of penile carcinoma. In addition, the recurrence rate is extremely high. Treatment with the neodymium-YAG laser provides a new therapy concept for T1 and T2 tumors, namely devitalization of all tumor cells with minimal tissue ablation. Following excision of the actual tumor, the base and margins of the excision are subjected to deep thermal denaturation without tissue removal. Over a mean observation period of 5 years, no local recurrence was found in 17 patients treated with this technique; only 1 patient died of metastases that remained undetected during primary staging.